THE 


RIVERTON  MINISTER, 


DW 


REV.  MARTIN  POST, 


ATLANTA,  GA.  : 

AMBBICAN  PUBLISHING  AND  ENGRAVING  Co. 
1897. 


COPYRIGHT,  1S97. 
BY  REV.  MARTIN   POST. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 

This  book  contains  a  narrative  drawn 
from  life.  Clothed  somewhat  in  the  garb  of 
fiction;  it  is,  so  far  as  relates  to  the  charac- 
ter, life-work  and  spirit  of  the  Kiverton 
Minister,,  fact.  It  is  the  story  of  a  ministry 
which  now  is  woven  into  the  fabric  of  imper- 
ishable history;  a  ministry  which  was 
abundant  in  good  that  can  never  be  lost  or 
overestimated. 

Obviously,  any  sketch  of  an  individual,  be 
the  place  he  fills  large  or  small  as  we 
measure,  is  at  best  but  a  fraction  of  his 
personal  record  and  much  more  is  it  but  a 
fraction  of  the  record  of  his  own  times.  But 
under  the  great  law  of  compensation,  while 
such  a  sketch  loses  of  the  general  and  cosmo- 
politan, it  may  gain  in  the  local,  personal 
and  human.  The  writer  has  been  compelled 
to  exclude  much  material  which,  although 
highly  important  and  often  germane  to  this 
narrative,  would,  if  adequately  introduced, 
withdraw  the  focus  from  the  one  life  opened 
to  view  in  these  pages  and  would  multiply 
the  pages  into  volumes. 

May  this  tribute  to  a  consecrated  and 
beautiful  life  help  to  make  other  lives 
beautiful.  M.  P.,  Atlanta.  Oa. 


2072232 


CHAPTER  I. 

Land  of  the  West!  Land  of  Promise!  for 
four  centuries  the  desire  and  hope  of  the 
under  millions.  The  story  of  the  thrill,  the 
enterprise  and  daring  evoked,  by  that  talis- 
manic  word,  "The  Great  West,"  is  already 
lapsing  to  the  shadow  land  of  tradition. 
Those  annals  of  privation,  exposure  and 
brave  achievement,of  the  leap  from  unbroken 
wilderness  to  giant  Statehood,  from  scant 
subsistence  to  fabulous  wealth, — the  details 
of  this  heroic  age  of  the  Western  Hemisphere 
must,  like  all  things  terrestrial,  become  "to 
dumb  forgetfulness,  a  prey." 

In  this  vast,  and  now  reclaimed,  interior 
of  America,  the  van  of  the  army  of  occupa- 
tion halted  for  a  day  and  garrisoned  its  forts, 
and  on  the  morrow  "folded  its  tents  and  stole 
away"  before  the  drum  beat  of  the  irrepres- 
sible center  and  rear;  still  in  quest  of  the 
Enchanted  I/and  afar  under  the  setting  sun. 

Thrice  happy  he  who  shall,  even  in 
humbler  measure,  aid  these  national  chapters 
of  heroic  self  denial  and  modest  wealth,  and 
often  Christian  devotement,  and  too  often  of 
unpublished  greatness,  to  their  deserved 
place  in  story  and  in  song. 

By  the  calendar  it  was  the  first  day  of 
winter  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1829,  and  by 
the  geography  it  was  on  the  banks  of  the 


6 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


Pocanock  River  in  the  wilderness  of  the  new 
State  of  Indiana.  Here,  as  the  day  was 
nearly  done,  a  solitary  horseman  rode  up 
and  halted.  Evidently  he  had  ridden  hard. 
In  truth,  he  had  been  in  the  saddle  from  day- 
light far  into  nightfall,  for  now  almost  six 
days:  a  new  experience  for  John  Goldwin. 

He  saw  the  smoke  curling  above  the  trees 
a  mile  below  on  the  opposite  bank,  and  had 
the  comforting  reflection  that  once  there  his 
journey  would  end.  He  gave  the  rein  to 
his  pony,  and  while  pony  stretched  his  neck 
and  took  breath,  his  rider  gave  loose  rein  to 
his  thoughts. 

The  Pocanock  waters  cut  their  way 
through  a  dense  wood,  and  the  sun,  fast 
disappearing  behind  the  trees,  was  throwing 
his  last  javelins  aslant  the  stream.  The  tall 
wild  grass  along  the  swales  rasped  its  brittle 
blades  with  a  crackling  sound.  Some  of  the 
forest  leaves  had  forgotten  to  fall.  A  step 
in  advance  of  the  horseman  a  giant  sycamore 
hung  far  over  the  brink.  The  current  had 
eaten  into  the  soil  until  the  naked  roots  of  the 
tree  mutely  appealed  for  protection  against 
storm  and  stream.  In  that  eloquent  solitude 
relieved  now  by  plunge  of  the  wild  duck,  now 
by  the  plaintive  voice  of  the  mourning  dove, 
now  by  the  hoot  of  the  solemn  owl,  nature 
seemed  wholly  uncognizant  of  man. 

The  solitude  seemed  to  accord  with  our 
traveller's  lone  meditations.  As  he  wiped 
his  hatnstained  forehead,  he  musingly  re- 
flected: "That  sun  is  setting  but  mine  is 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  J 

just  rising.  For  me  the  day,  sunlit  or  over- 
cast, which  I  know  not  nor  need  to  know,  is 
but  across  this  river.  On  its  thither  bank 
hope  perches.  Those  colors  of  the  gorgeous 
west — how  deep  and  warm!  How  they 
grow!  How  they  climb  the  sky!  May  I  not 
read  in  them  happy  augeries?  This  I  feel: 
that  Love  is  there  beckoning  me  and  I 
follow." 

In  such  mood  was  John  Goldwiu,  when 
suddenly  a  rustle  in  the  dense  undergrowth 
at  his  right  aroused  him  to  recognize  a  hunter 
who  stopped  his  horse  beside  him. 

"Good  evening  stranger,"  said  the  son  of 
Nimrod. 

"Good  evening;"  replied  John  Goldwin,  as 
he  surveyed  the  hunter  clad  in  a  coon  skin 
cap  and  brown  "wamus"  and  linsey  woolsey 
trousers,  which  were  tucked  into  a  pair  of 
huge  cowhide  boots.  A  well  worn  leather 
pouch,  a  double  barrel  shot  gun  and  a  knife, 
sufficiently  long  and  threatening,  hanging 
from  his  belt  completed  his  equipment. 
Sundry  squirrel,  duck  and  wild  turkey  hung 
from  his  saddle,  front  and  rear. 

"You  seem  to  have  had  good  success,"  said 
Goldwin  as  he  cast  his  eye  down  upon  the 
booty. 

"Tol'able  like,"  was  the  reply,  "considerin' 
I've  only  be'n  out  since  mornin'':" 

"How  far  out  have  you  been?" 

"Out  to  Skunks  Creek.  I  reckon  that's 
rig-ht  smart  on  to  fifteen  mile  from  here." 
Then  surveying  Mr.  Goldwin's  pony  with  an 


8 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


eye  which  took  in  his  points  at  a  glance,  he 
said,  "A  good  chunck  of  a  pony,  that.  How 
far  might  you  have  travelled?" 

"I  left  Madison  on  the  Ohio  river  almost 
a  week  ago." 

"I  declare  you've  had  a  hard  pull  of  it. 
It's  middlin'  tough  at  best,  and  on  them 
that's  used  to  it;  and  then  this  onsartin 
weather,  mud,  slush,  ice  and  snow,  beats  all 
for  bad  trav'lin." 

Having  "spelled"  their  horses,  they  picked 
their  way  down  to  the  water's  brink.  Little 
thought  Goldwin  as  he  feasted  on  the  beauty 
of  that  river,  how  its  liquid  melodies  were 
destined  to  flow  into  his  life  of  battle  and 
\alorous  achievement;  little  dream  of  the 
blessed  human  freightage  it  should  one  day 
convey  to  him. 

"You  are  familiar  with  this  ford;  let  me 
place  myself  under  your  leadership,"  said  he. 

"All  right,"  said  the  hunter,  "I  reckon  I 
oughfr  know  it.  If  I  don't  'taint  'cause  I 
hai'nt  crossed  it  enough." 

"Then  you  have  lived  in  these  parts  for 
sometime?" 

"Yes,  its  going  on  seven  years  since  me  and 
my  woman  and  the  children  landed  over 
there  at  Riverton." 

"Indeed!  Then  you  must  be  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  settlement?" 

"You're  right  there.  When  I  put  up  my 
cabin,  a  Frenchman,  old  Dure,  had  a  claim 
down  at  the  Point  and  there  was  no  other 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  g 

settler  when  I  first  set  eyes  on  this  neck  of 
woods." 

"Now,  stranger,"  said  the  settler,  let  me 
advise  you  to  hang  that  air  pair  of  saddle 
bags  across  your  shoulders,  for  now  and  then 
we  step  off  into  holes  like  and  that  pony  of 
your'n  haint  no  legs  to  speak  of  anyhow." 

Mr.  Goldwin,  thanking  him,  accepted  his 
thoughtful  suggestion.  When  he  emerged 
on  the  opposite  bank,  saving  boots  and  leg- 
gins  well  splashed,  he  was  none  the  worse 
for  the  fording.  The  frosty  air  of  hasten- 
ing nightfall  soon  stiffened  their  moist 
garments  to  ice,  and  moved  them  to  quicken 
their  pace.  Threading  the  forest  path  which 
followed  the  winding  of  the  stream,  they 
soon  stood  on  a  gentle  elevation  and  below 
them,  picturesquely  located  at  the  juncture 
of  the  Rappilee  and  Pocanock  rivers,  lay  the 
hamlet  of  Riverton. 

Now  our  hunter  never  let  an  opportunity 
to  gather  news  at  first  hand  escape  him,  and 
he  already  opined  that  his  companion  was 
no  ordinary  visitor.  So  having  exchanged 
names,  he  giving  his  as  "Sam  Drake,"  he 
said,  "I'll  'low  mebbe  you're  one  of  the 
Gov'm'nt  Agents,  or  a  land  surveyor,  or 
might  be  a  school  teacher?" 

Goldwin  answered  evasively,  reflecting 
that  there  was  a  sense  in  which  he  might  be 
all  of  these. 

"If  you're  a  doctor  you  are  wanted,"  said 
Drake,  "for  everybodv  at  Riverton  has  the 
chattering  shakes;  mebbe  you'll  have  them 


10 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


too.  But  I  am  not  the  man  to  scare  you 
before  hand.  There's  thistles  everywhere, 
but  mostly  its  green  grass." 

"Then,"  proceeded  the  speculative  Sam, 
"I  hav'nt  seen  a  doctor  since  iny  sister  took 
the  fever  and  died  down  on  White  River." 

Then  Goldwin  kindly  drew  from  him  the 
story  of  his  only  sister,  the  one  pet  lamb  of 
.the  household,  so  amiable;  loved  by  every- 
body; seemed  like  a  white  lily  blooming  in  a 
desert.  She  had  fallen  a  prey  to  one  of  those 
malignant  fevers  Which  were  often  so  swift 
and  fatal  in  the  new  settlements.  Sam 
hurriedly  brushed  away  a  tear,  but  as  he 
caught  the  eye  of  Mr.  Goldwin.  they  both  felt 
that  mystic  touch  of  nature  which  makes  the 
whole  world  kin,  and  as  Mr.  Goldwin  shook 
the  rough  hand  of  the  hunter  and  parted,  he 
thought  that  he  already  had  one  fast  friend 
in  Riverton. 

Turning  up  to  the  tavern,  the  wean7"  trav- 
eller passed  over  his  pony  to  "Stubbs,"  the 
half  breed  hostler  and  servant  of  all  work, 
and  following  the  breezy  landlord,  Col. 
Grande,  stepped  within. 


CHAPTER  II. 

Samuel  Johnson  loved  to  extol  the  old 
English  tavern,  but  the  Riverbon  hostlery 
constituted  one  of  the  distinct  species,  and, 
while  plainly  of  the  same  genus,  exhibited 
marked  variations  from  the  English  type, 
with  its  sign  of  the  Bull  or  Boar,  or  Sheep's- 
head,  which  looked  stolidly  on  cavalier  or 
round-head,  churchman  or  dissenter  for 
scores  of  generations.  Here  on  the  rim  of 
civilization,  was  an  instance  of  evolution 
modified  \y  environment.  Who  at  this  inter- 
mediate stage  saw  the  germs  of  a  St.  Dennis 
or  Del  Monte?  Those  pioneer  "Travellers' 
Rssts"  already  belong,  like  fossil  en-chronite 
or  trilobite,  to  the  curiosities  exhumed  from 
a  by-gone  age.  Doubtless  they  knew  the 
same  genus  homo  that  now  careers  over  the 
earth;  the  same  eating  and  drinking  and 
quarreling  and  love  making;  the  same  lust 
of  power  and  greed  of  gold;  the  same  conflict 
of  conscience  and  covetousness. 

The  Riverton  tavern  was  a  rough,  two-story 
structure  of  unhewn  logs,  the  interstices 
filled  after  the  manner  of  what  was  known 
as  "chinking  and  daubing,"  and  the  roof 
covered  with  "shakes,"  thin  oak  slits  four 
or  five  feet  long,  which  answered  in  lieu  of 
shingles.  These  were  held  in  place  by  long, 


12  THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 

heavy  poles  laid  at  regular  intervals  across 
them. 

The  apartments  were  at  each  end  of  the 
building,  while  a  capacious  drive  way  ran 
through  its  center,  on  the  one  side  of  which 
was  a  room  extending  over  the  width  of  the 
building,  one  end  of  which  room  served  as 
kitchen  and  the  remaining  space,  set  off  with 
three  long  tables,  served  as  dining  hall.  On 
the  other  side  of  the  central  drive-way  and 
landing  place  was  a  large  room  which 
answered  the  double  purpose  of  office  and 
general  reception  room,  general  gossip  and 
news  center  for  the  settlement.  It  was 
flanked  by  a  generous  fireplace  and  graced 
with  huge  iron  andirons,  on  which  four  and 
six  foot  logs  were  giving  warmth  and  cheer, 
and  fitfully  decorating  the  sombre  walls  with 
an  inimitableRembrantesque  play  of  dancing 
lights  and  shadows. 

In  one  corner  stood  a  rough  semi-counter, 
semi-desk,  rejoicing  in  the  native  wood  colors, 
except  as  grease  and  rust  had  obscured 
them.  Under  this  rustic  counter  were 
sundry  kegs  and  a  two  gallon  jug,  while  on 
the  counter  were  ranged  a  pitcher  and  large 
glass  and  a  half  dozen  small  glasses,  some  of 
them  nicked  or  cracked.  The  pitcher  and 
large  glass  suggested  water.  The  others 
somthing  else; — what  General  Tupper  not 
inaptly  called,  "the  distilled  juice  of  devils." 

During  the  evening,  as  Goldwin  observed, 
very  many,  and  some  more  than  once,  drew 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  j^ 

up  to  the  counter  in  quest  of  a  little  of  this 
"inside  matter." 

A  shelf,  supported  on  two  pegs  driven  into 
the  wall  behind  the  counter,  was  covered 
with  tin  candlesticks,  each  containing  a 
small  section  of  a  tallow  dip.  The  walls 
were  unadorned  save  with  a  rifle  and  powder 
horn  and  an  old  shot-gun,  and  several 
attempts  at  art;  such  as  a  rude  cut  designed 
as  a  portrait  of  "Old  Hickory,"  but  dingy  and 
dark  and  diabolical  enough  to  have  been  the 
phiz  of  "Old  Nick"  himself.  Yet  do  not 
prematurely  decide  as  to  the  political  bias 
of  the  place,  for  from  the  opposite  wall,  on 
one  side  of  the  door,  "Harry  Clay"  looked 
down  with  a  benignant  simile  and  on  the 
other  "Daniel  Webster"  with  his  eternal 
frown. 

Splint  bottomed  chairs  and  rough  stools 
were  scattered  in  front  of  the  fire  and  several 
plank  benches  ranged  against  the  wall  and 
displayed  divers  attempts  at  wood  carving 
and  lettering  with  the  irrepressible  jack- 
knife. 

Who  shall  record  the  political  wisdom 
whittled  out  on  this,  the  People's  Bench? 
Oowper  essayed  to  sing  of  the  Sofa,  and  why 
not  some  favorite  of  the  Muses  attempt  the 
annals  and  the  honors  of  the  puncheon  slab 
bench  which  was  so  often  consecrated  by 
sprinkling  with  juices  of  the  odorous  weed. 
What  debates  it  has  sustained!  What  desti- 
nies have  rested  on  it!  What  policies'  have 
been  carved  upon  it!  What  political  slates 


14 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


here  made  or  marred !  Here  the  sacred  Nine 
invite.  Let  some  hitherto  "mute  inglorious" 
tune  his  lyre  to  "The  Song  of  the  People's 
Bench." 

Back  of  this  general  reception  room  was  a 
smaller  apartment  which  seemed  to  be  a 
universal  stow-away.  Here  lay  bits  of  har- 
ness, old  saddles,  coon  skins,  whip  stalks, 
riding  blankets,  old  tin  horns,  cups  of  wagon- 
grease  and  many  other  things  which  for  the 
most  part,  had  apparently  quite  outlived 
their  usefulness,  and  were  waiting  burial  or 
cremation. 

Meanwhile  John  Gold  win  joined  the  group 
about  the  fire;  chatted  and  watched  the 
steam  rise  from  his  boots,  and  hung  fancies 
on  the  flame  steeples  which  rose  and  fell  on 
the  maple  and  hickory  logs  until  supper  was 
announced  and,  presto,  the  scene  shifted  to 
the  dining  room. 

We  have  hastened  to  describe  this  primi- 
tive hotel,  for  it  very  soon  disappeared  before 
the  tidal  wave  from  the  East. 

At  the  supper  table  Goldwin  was  half 
amused  as  he  discovered  eyes  here  and  eyes 
there  asking  quite  as  plainly  as  any  words 
could,  "Who  are  you,  young  man?  Whence 
and  why  did  you  come?"  And  during  the 
evening,  too,  in  the  room  of  general  rendez- 
vous he  was  under  the  darts  of  these  optical 
interrogation  points.  As  the  settlers  dropped 
in  at- this  news  exchange,  they  quickly  sin- 
gled out  the  strangers,  and  John  Goldwin 
was  one  of  those  whom  having  seen  once,  a 


THE  KIVERTON  MINISTER. 


15 


second  look  was  sure  to  be  given  him.  Little 
surmised  they  how  under  that  modest  and 
seemingly  unobservant  aspect,  this  stranger 
was  really  observing  and  mentally  digesting 
everything. 

But  our  weary  traveller  soon  found  that 
even  this  ocular  telegraphy  could  not  keep 
his  eyes  open,  and  the  landlord,  or  Col. 
Grande  as  he  liked  to  be  called,  taking  one 
of  the  tin  candlesticks  and  Goldwln's  saddle 
bags,  piloted  him  up  a  ladder  into  the  "loft," 
where  were  rows  of  beds  or  bunks  extending 
the  length  of  the  building.  A  chintz  of 
fantastic  figures  and  colors  partitioned  the 
farther  corner  of  this  dormitory.  Into  this 
unique  bed  chamber  this  favored  guest  was 
ushered  with  an  officiousness  and  flourish 
which  would  have  done  honor  to  the  keeper 
of  his  majesty  the  King's  bed-chamber. 

Alone  and  free  to  roam  in  his  thoughts, 
Goldwin  almost  forgot  the  present  and  was 
blind  to  surroundings,  until  the  epitome  of  a 
candle  flickered  expiringly  and  recalled  him 
to  the  immediate.     The  scene  of  the  day,  the 
resplendent    sunset,    the    rock-bedded    river 
with  its  cold  splash  and  the  strange  faces 
illuminated  by  the  great  crackling  fire  logs, 
mingled  with  yesterdays  and  with  the  far 
away;    the    lake,    the    mountain,    the    New 
England  home,  dear  mother  and  the  boys,  the 
old  path  to  pasture,  the  rude  school  house, 
and  the  parsonage  on  the  hillside  where  his 
heart  had  sought  its  Marian.     As  he  turned 
on  his  pillow    he   spied   through    a    crevice 


16 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


between  the  lags,  a  star.  Was  Marion,  like 
that  star,  so  brilliant,  so  cold,  so  far  away? 
Groldwin,  relaxed  like  a  knight  who  had  just 
laid  off  his  armor,  and  soon  was  sleeping  the 
sleep  of  the  weary  brave. 

As  he  descended  the  primitive  stairs  the 
next  morning,  the  first  sight  which  met  his 
eyes  was  two  Indians,  gashed  an'd  blood- 
stained, and  lying  in  the  heavy  stupor  which 
follows  debauchery.  Then  as  now,  the  white 
man's  whisky  was  the  red  man's  curse.  Men 
passed  in  and  out  callous  to  the  spec- 
tacle, or  moved  by  it  only  to  mirth  or  jest. 
Not  so  with  this  young  stranger.  On  this, 
his  first  morning  in  Biverton,  thus  abruptly 
began  his  initiation  into  the  infernal  accom- 
paniments of  civilization.  Do  you  wonder 
that  with  a  heavy  heart  he  walked  out  and 
under  a  morning  sky  which  was  .the  very 
embodiment  of  joy,  said,  "Can  it  be  possible 
that  the  sun  does  not  refuse  to  shine  on  such 
horrid  scenes?" 


CHAPTER  III. 

Heredity  is  a  word  to  conjure  with.  We 
all  like  to  trace  the  ancestral  line  and  dis- 
cover, or  think  we  discover,  the  laws  and  the 
cause  of  this  or  that  in  the  personages  we  are 
studying  or  commemorating.  We  say  of  A. 
as  he  becomes  illustrious,  "He  comes  of  good 
stock,"  forgetful  to  say  the  same  of  B.,  his 
obscure  and  very  indifferent  brother.  "Blood 
will  tell,"  but  so  will  some  things  else,  and  it 
were  well  for  us  amid  our  wise  rules  to  leave 
abundant  room  for  the  play  of  environment, 
and  above  all,  of  will,  human  and  divine.  It 
may  safely  be  taken  for  granted  that  the 
Goldwin  genealogy  is  not  conspicuously  inter- 
esting to  the  general  reader.  Nor  is  it 
important  to  calculate  just  how  many  Welsh 
or  Scottish  or  French  or  Dutch  corpuscles 
swell  the  veins  of  the  Goldwins.  Suffice  it 
for  our  purpose,  that  for  a  few  moments  we 
go  back  to  Mr.  John  Goldwin's  childhood 
and  parental  home. 

Mrs.  Sarah  Hulburd  Goldwin  and  her  little 
family,  having  breakfasted,  passed  into  the 
sitting  room  and  she  took  down  her  Bible 
from  the  clock  shelf  for  the  customary  morn- 
ing worship.  She  took  her  favorite  seat  by 
the  window  which  admitted  the  light  directly 
upon  the  Scripture  pages  and  where  the  rays 


18 


THE  BJVBRTON  MINISTER. 


seemed  fondly  to  mingle  their  gleam  with  the 
silver  which  was  cresting  the  waves  of  her 
dark  hair.  For  a  moment,  her  Bible 
unopened,  she  fed  her  spirit  from  the  holj 
pages  God  had  written  in  the  scene  without. 
It  was  a  westward  prospect;  in  the  near 
foreground  Lake  Champlain;  on  the  further 
shore  the  height  where  slumbered  the  ruins 
of  Port  Ticonderoga,  and  in  the  distance, 
rising  as  guardian  sentinels,  the  turrets  and 
domes  of  the  Adirondacks.  "The  strength 
of  the  hills  is  His,"  her  soul  whispered  and 
reposed  in  the  strength  of  the  Eternal  Love. 

Beside  her  sat  three  boys,  the  manly 
and  judicious  John,  the  affectionate  and  alert 
Arthur,  the  rollicking  little  Thomas.  One 
member  of  that  group  had  passed  into  the 
long  absence;  yet,  somewhat  to  the  children 
and  always  to  the  mother,  he  was  not  absent. 
Three  boys,  a,  promise,  a  joy,  a  care,  and  now 
that  she  stood  alone,  a  double  solicitude. 
The  high  purpose  of  the  father  for  their 
education  now  rested  wholly  upon  her. 

As  she  turned  to  her  Bible,  the  eldest  boy, 
John,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  looked  into 
her  face  with  his  wistful  eyes  and  she  said, 
"What  is  it  John?" 

For  an  instant  the  boy  hesitated,  then 
hitched  his  chair  a  little  nearer  and  said, 
"Mother,  can  I  ever  go  to  college?  I  want 
to,  oh  so  much!" 

"Me,  too,"  said  Arthur. 

"Me,  too,"  said  the  roguish  little  mimic, 
Thomas. 


'jL'h.&  RiVERTON  MINISTER.  -|_g 

For  a  moment  Mrs.  Goldwin  did  not  reply, 
was  looking  into  the  face  of  that  dear 
husband.  She  was  listening  to  his  words 
in  that  last  illness,  words  of  sorrow  that  he 
could  not  live  to  aid  her  in  endowing  the 
precious  boys  with  an  education;  words  of 
faith  that  she  should  live  to  see  their  fond 
hopes  fulfilled.  Alone  with  her  three  chil- 
dren and  with  an  income  barely  sufficient 
with  strict  frugality,  to  support  them,  how 
should  the  desire  of  the  father  and  mother, 
yes,  and  as  it  now  seemed  of  the  children,  be 
accomplished? 

"Yes,  John  dear,  I  want  you  and  your 
brothers  to  go  to  college.  But  it  costs  a 
good  sum  of  money  and  means  hard  study." 

"I  know  it  does,  mother,"  said  John,  "But 
I'll  do  all  I  can  to  help." 

"Yes,  my  boy,"  she  said,  as  she  laid  her 
hand  on  his  shoulder,  "I  think  you  will.  I 
know  you  want  to  be  a  good  and  useful  man 
and  I  think  some  day  you  will  go  to  college." 

Then  she  read  the  121st  Psalm  and  she  and 
John  thought  it  must  have  been  written 
expressly  for  them.  They  all  knelt  and  so 
sweetly,  tenderly  and  expectantly,  the 
mother  led  her  children  to  her  Heavenly 
Father  for  help. 

Education!  How  flippantly  and  assuredly 
and  assumptively  we  talk  of  it!  Fence  off 
a  little  patch  of  our  days,  plant  in  it  a  few 
Greek  and  Latin  and  binomial  roots  and  that 
is  education!  Put  a  fraction  as  equal  to  the 
whole!  When  you  have  discovered  the 


20 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


boundary  lines  of  being,  then  only  may  we 
essay  to  set  bounds  to  education.  So  oftea 
the  elements,  so  subtle  and  volatile,  mock- 
ingly elude  our  proud  analysis.  The  col- 
lege— the  joint  hands  of  father  and  mother 
lay  its  corner  stone.  Mother  is  President  of 
the  Preparatory  school.  Home  levels  and 
squares  and  places  the  marble  steps  to  the 
University  of  Life.  Difficulty,  privation, 
hardship,  and  self-sacrifice  out  of  love  to 
others  are  the  invaluable  corps  of  instructors. 

Sometimes  John  would  come  from  school 
saying,  "Mother,  my  teacher  says  I  am 
getting  on  first  rate  in  Latin,"  and  then  he 
would  declare  that  he  was  bound  to  push 
on  and  go  to  college.  "College  boys,"  he 
would  say,  "have  any  amount  of  fun,  and  I'm 
after  the  fun  as  well  as  the  Latin  and  Greek." 
Then,  young  as  he  was,  he  would  query  over 
the  ill-adjustments  and  ill-apportionment* 
of  life.  "There's  Uncle  Phil,"  he  would  in- 
stance, "rich,  plenty  of  money;  could  as  well 
send  his  boys  to  college  as  not;  but  not  <mo 
of  them  cares  to  study."  Arthur,  ever  so 
much  younger  than  they,  almost  always 
helps  them  out  with  their  examples  in  arith- 
metic. "Mother,"  he  would  exclaim,  "What'i 
the  reason  things  are  so?  Why  don't  we  have 
money?"  Hard  question,  who  has  fully 
answered  it? 

It  happened  one  Saturday  night  after  a 
day  in  the  woods  nutting  that  John,  while 
Thomas  and  Arthur  were  rolling  about  in  a 
frollic  with  dog  Juno  before  the  fiivr 


THE  R1VERTON  MINISTER. 


21 


related  to  his  mother  how  they  played 
court  just  for  fun.  "Arthur  was  arrested 
for  stealing  nuts  and  plead  his  own  case. 
Uncle  Phil's  boys  were  jury  and  Thomas  was 
clerk  of  the  court  and  I  was  judge.  I  tell 
you  Arthur  defended  himself  well.  But 
mother,  Thomas  whispered  to  him  and  gave 
him  some  of  the  smart  things  he  said. 
Indeed,  he  did.  He'll  beat  us  all  some  day. 
And  the  judge,  you  know  mother  how  sober 
and  straight-faced  he  can  be.  He  laid  down 
the  law  to  the  jury  good  and  strong."  With 
boyish  enthusiasm,  John  poured  these  things 
into  the  ready  ears  of  the  mother.  Ambition, 
self-respect,  family  pride  of  the  noble  kind, 
warm  the  hearts  of  that  little  group.  "Is 
this  to  my  little  lawyer  boy?"  thought  the 
fond  mother,  as  she  looked  into  John's  intel- 
ligent eyes?  We  shall  see. 

At  that  date  Daniel  Webster  had  furnished 
the  school  boys  with  scarcely  any  of  his 
matchless  declamations.  But  the  eloquent 
peroration  of  his  Plymouth  address  and  later 
his  plea  in  favor  of  the  Greek  Revolution, 
were  circulating  widely,  and  were  eagerly 
caught  up  by  these  aspiring  youth.  Patrick 
Henry,  however,  was  the  favorite  and  his 
"Give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death,"  was 
detonated  from  rock  to  rock  at  almost  any 
hour.  The  elaborate  efforts,  too,  of  Milton's 
"Moloch,"  or  "Beelzebub"  often  held  in  awe 
the  dumb  stricken  cows. 

The  neighbors  were  wont  to  say  of  John, 
"That  boy  has  the  stuff  in  him,  solid  all 


22 


THE  KIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


through."  He  was  no  premature  old  man. 
He  was  fond  of  boyish  sports  and  not  behind 
in  Athletic  contests.  Nevertheless,  when  he 
slipped  away  from  his  comrades,  they  soon 
learned  to  suspect  that  he  was  hid  away  in 
some  corner  and  lost  in  some  book.  That 
was  hardly  the  day  of  town  and  school  libra- 
ries. Books  were  few.  Such  as  there  were 
in  the  neighborhood  were  read  and  many  of 
them  reread  by  the  meditative  Vermont  boy. 
But  much  of  his  thinking  came  not  from 
books.  Mountain,  lake,  cloud  and  sky  have 
no  scant  share  in  the  education  of  those 
whose  minds  are  of  the  right  fibre.  As  John 
plowed  or  sowed,  or  whetted  his  scythe,  or 
pastured  the  cows,  his  patriotic  soul  would 
often  roam  away  to  the  battles  of  Lake 
Ohamplain  and  Ticonderoga,  and  mountain 
and  lake  and  defile  came  to  be  to  him  as 
brothers,  living  presences.  Nature  alike  in 
her  scenes  of  large  peace,  and  in  those  of 
awful  conflict,  mingled  with  legend  and  tale 
of  romance,  and  floated  in  memory  and  fancy, 
as  cloud-play  around  the  hills.  The  outer 
world,  fashioned  on  rugged  and  ample  scale, 
wrought  a  certain  largeness  and  grandeur 
as  well  as  tenacity,  into  the  aspirations  of  the 
young  Goldwins  and  entered  the  fabric  of 
their  thought  in  after  yearn  and  under  other 
skies,  and  afforded  fitting  symbols  to  body 
forth  their  spiritual  interpretations. 

Years  passed.  It  was  the  last  morning  in 
June.  The  sunlight  was  glancing  from  green 
hillside  and  bare  rock,  and  the  lake  was 


THE   RIVBUTON  MINISTKU. 


23 


tossing  back  the  dazzle  of  countless  gems, 
while  the  sombre  foliage  of  the  oaks  and 
pines  was  tremulous  with  the  morning. 
Wagons  rattling  down  the  mountain  roads, 
and  clouds  of  dust  hovering  over  those  of 
the  valley,  'betokened  that  the  region  was 
widely  astir. 

It  was  Commencement  Day  at  Middleton 
College,  Vermont.  Fathers,  mothers,  sisters, 
brothers,  sweethearts;  care-visaged  trustees 
and  gay  jesting  schoolmates  were  crowding 
to  the  village  church,  eager  to  hear  the  young 
men  who  were  bidding  farewell  to  college 
days.  In  the  graduating  class  wras  John 
Gold  win,  while  his  brothers  were  approach- 
ing or  crossing  the  thresholds  of  the  college 
course.  Between  Arthur  and  Thomas  sat 
the  hap^v,  justly  proud  mother.  Had 
not  met  Pres.  B.  that  very  morning  and, 
busy  as  he  was,  had  he  not  stopp  d  to 
press  her  hand  and  say,  "Mrs.  Goldwin,  you 
are  rich  in  your  boys."  Her  heart  was  sing- 
ing again  that  121st  Psalui,  "My  help  cometli 
from  the  Lord  who  made  heaven  and  earth," 
and  she  was  living  over  again  those  mornings 
when  college  was  far  in  the  distance,  invisi- 
ble save  to  her  radiant  faith,  and  when  she, 
with  her  little  ones,  went  to  the  Divine 
Father  for  help. 

John  saw  her  as  he  rose  to  pronounce  the 
valedictory  and  said  to  himself,  "Mother 
never  looked  so  beautiful  as  she  does  to-day." 
And  there  was  another  in  that  audience, 
Marian  Braddock,  whose  eye  seemed  to  him 


24  THE  RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 

to  answer  to  his  in  that  secret  telegraphy 
which  mysteriously  plays  between  souls 
that  are  charged  with  the  electric  spark  of 
love.  Secret,  for  as  yet  the  connecting  lines 
had  not  ben  seen  by  the  world.  By  no  form 
of  plighted  words,  indeed,  had  they  them- 
selves as  yet  recognized  or  sealed  the  bond. 

"Fine  fellow  that  Goldwin,"  said  the 
Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  "somehow 
I  like  him." 

"You  are  right,"  said  the  President  of  the 
College,  "he  is  well  poised,  a  clear  thinker, 
and  touched  with  the  gleam  of  the  poetic; 
just  the  one  for  solid  results." 

"By  the  way,"  rejoined  the  trustee,  "when 
I  was  in  the  legislature  I  knew  his  father, 
Martin  Goldwin,  a  young  lawyer.  He  was 
clerk  of  the  upper  house  when  he  died,  a  man 
of  few  words  but  prfect  in  his  deeds." 

"Now,"  added  President  B.  "There  is  Bel- 
mar,  one  of  Goldwin's  classmates,  quite 
another  type,  brilliant,  fascinating,  but 
psh'aiw!  too  many  bridgeless  gaps,  too  many 
fields  untilled."' 

Until  his  last  year  in  college,  John  Goldwin 
had  in  view,  the  profession  of  lawT.  It  was 
natural  that  he  should  be  attracted  to  the 
path  chosen  by  his  revered  father,  and  so, 
without  giving  the  subject  as  yet  any  very 
serious  thought,  he  had  drifted  into  the 
paternal  preference.  But  he  was  not  one 
who  could  long  be  satisfied  to  drift.  He  was 
maturing  into  one  of  those  investigating  and 
unshackled  minds  which,  welcoming  the  light 


THE   RIVBttTON  MINISTER. 


25 


granted,  must  fearlessly  think  out  its  own 
schedule.  During  his  l&st  winter  in  college, 
the  great  question  of  existence  met  him  and 
held  him.  Life  was  solemn,  profound;  of 
fathomless  significance.  He  asked  for  light, 
and  to  him  was  fulfilled,  "In  Thy  light  shall 
we  see  light."  He  saw  his  personal  Savior 
and  humbly  clasped  him  with  every  judgment 
and  affection  of  his  soul.  He  pursued  his 
studies  with  the  same,  or  if  possible,  even 
greater  alacrity,  but  close  observers  saw  that 
he  was  inspired  with  a  new  spirit  and  dwelt 
under  a  new,  a  boundless  sky,  resplendent 
with  the  love  of  his  Divine  Brother.  Esteem- 
ing the  claims  of  the  profession  of  Law  no 
less,  he  felt  those  of  the  Ministry  more.  So 
John  Goldwin  promptly  turned  his  steps 
toward  the  New  England  Mecca  of  Theology 
in  Massachusetts. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

A  light  rap  on  the  table  and  the  buzz  of 
voices  suddenly  ceased,  and  Rev.  Dr.  M.  said, 
"The  brethren  will  please  corne  to  order." 
Several  theological  students  were  about  _to 
be  examined  with  a  view  to  license  and  ordi- 
nation for  preaching  the  Gospel  in  the  "far 
West." 

"The  Scribe  will  please  call  the  roll." 
There  was  old  Dr.  C.,  his  brown  wig  striving 
with  only  partial  success  to  conceal  his 
snowy  locks.  He  was  a  little  deaf  and  did 
not  hear  the  thuds  of  his  gold  headed  cane, 
as  he  vented  his  approval  or  disapproval. 

Beside  him  was  Bro.  E.,  pastor  at  Waxham 
for  fifty  years,  fresh  from  a  tilt  with  his 
church,  where  certain  young  persons,  sons  of 
.Belial,  as  he  termed  them,  sought  to  bring 
the  old  Colony  pulpit  down  a  step  or  two 
towrards  the  people.  But  Bro.  E.  said,  "the 
nearer  the  sky  the  nearer  heaven"  and  not 
an  inch  was  it  lowered. 

Then  there  was  Rev.  Bro.  D.  His  head  was 
level;  he  looked  on  many  sides  of  a  question 
and  always  reached  the  charitable  and  wise 
conclusion. 

And  there  was  Dr.  A.,  the  guardian  of 
Hyper  Calvinism.  His  round  face,  square 
cornered  brow  and  blinking  eyes  reminded 


THE   UIVERTON  MINISTER. 


27 


the  wags  of  an  owl.  The  especial  bulwark 
on  which  he  perched  was  Adam's  sin. 

Close  at  hand  was  Dr.  W.,  the  famous 
logic  chopper,  hemming  and  clearing  his 
throat  for  action.  It  was  taken  for  granted 
that  he  knew  all  the  ins  and  outs  of  fore- 
knowledge, fore-ordination,  predestination 
and  precondemnation. 

Dr.  N.  was  the  Apollos  of  the  group,  enkind- 
ling, ready,  felicitous. 

Bros.  P.  and  H.,  and  K.,  were  examples  of 
younger  ministers,  pastors  of  rural  and  vil- 
lage churches;  practical,  pushing  out  into 
unevalgelized  districts;  some  of  them  fresh 
from  blessed  revivals,  all  of  them  so 
engrossed  in  fighting  present  sin  that  they 
quite  neglected  original  sin 

The  little  dapper  man  who  sat  near  the 
Scribe  was  Dr.  S.,  an  indomitable  stickler  for 
technicalities.  He  could  dance  all  day  on 
some  point  of  a  pin  precedent  or  punctilio. 

Some  minds  are  all  angles  and  squares;  no 
curves.  L>me  are  dry  as  last  year's  chips. 
Some  are  last  year's  bird's  nests.  Some  are 
fountains  sparkling  in  the  sunlight.  Some 
are  ponds,  green-scummed  and  stenchful. 
Some  are  elms,  majestic,  graceful  and  heaven- 
ward, and  some  are  oaks,  rough-barked, 
gnarly  and  immovable. 

We  must  not  forget  to  mention  Dr.  G.,  the 
bete  notr  of  the  student  who  was  not  well 
qualified  in  Hebrew.  It  was  said  that  for 
forty  five  years  he  had  never  breakfasted 


28 


THE  RIVEIITON  MINISTER. 


until  lie  had  read  a  chapter  in  the  original 
tongue  of  Moses  and  David. 

The  young  theological  students  now  took 
their  places  in  front  of  the  brethren,  submit- 
ted their  papers  and  replied  to  inquiries  con- 
cerning their  Christian  experience,  and  their 
theological  tenets.  This  new  ministerial 
material  seemed  quite  conformable  to  the 
traditional  pattern.  True,  just  the  slightest 
ripple  of  expectancy  passed  over  several 
faces  at  one  stage  of  the  catechizing.  It  was 
when  Dr.  A.,  bristling  with  texts  from  Paul, 
applied  his  peculiar  probe. 

"Mr.  Goldwin,"  said  he,  "when  you  take 
up  the  work  in  the  West,  you  expect  to 
preach  a  stiff,  uncompromising  Calvinism,  do 
you  not?" 

"Well — yes — and — no,"  replied  the  candi- 
date, "I  expect  to  preach  just  as  stiff  a 
Calvinism  as  the  Bible  gives  me  to  preach; 
no  more,  no  less;  I  intend  to  declare  the 
whole  counsel  of  God,  as  He  gives  me  to  see 
it." 

With  this  unexpectedly  shrewd  and  com- 
prehensive reply,  Dr.  A.  was  obliged  to  seem 
satisfied. 

The  candidates  having  been  examined,  the 
Brethren  voted  "to  be  by  themselves"  for  a 
few  moments.  Then  ensued  an  interlocutory 
session. 

"It  does  seem  too  bad  to  send  young  Gold- 
win  out  among  the  backwoodsmen."  said  the 
polished,  scholarly  and  urbane  Dr.  B. 

"Yes,"  replied  Dr.  M.,  "men  of  his  scholar- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  29 

ship  and  cultivated  tastes  must  be  quite  out 
of  place  in  the  semi-barbarous  wilds  of  the 
West." 

"I  don't  know  about  that,  "said  Bro.  L., 
as  he  thought  of  his  one  brother,  so  studious 
and  promising,  who  had  gone  out  to  Marietta, 
Ohio.  "Let  us,"  he  continued,  "remember 
that  they  who  are  penetrating  to  those  unex- 
plored regions  are  of  our  sons  and  brothers, 
and  let  us  beware  how  we  characterize  them, 
lest  we  reflect  damagingly  upon  ourselves." 

Mr.  H.,  a  layman  from  Foxbury,  was  shuf- 
fling about  nervously  in  his  seat  and  finally 
broke  out,  "Paul,  the  scholar  and  poet  of  the 
Apostles,  was  not  retained  for  the  'eligi- 
ble pulpit'  at  Jerusalem,  nor  did  he  settle 
down  with  the  Metropolitan  church  at 
Antioch,  but  pressed  out  far  hence  to  the 
Gentiles,  and  found  call  for  his  best  powers 
in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth." 

Likewise  Rev.  Father  T.,  the  Apostle  John 
of  the  group,  as  he  was  sometimes  called, 
said,  "Brethren,  if  young  Goldwin  has  it 
impressed  upon  him  that  he  should  go  as 
a  Missionary  into  our  Western  country, 
beware  how  you  utter  a  word  against  it,  lest 
you  be  found  fighting  against  God." 

Bo  John  Goldwin  was  ordained  with  due 
form  and  solemnity  to  the  work  of  preaching 
the  Gospel  in  the  great  North  West  Territory, 
much  as  now  one  is  set  apart  to  go  to  Alaska, 
or  into  the  jungles  of  Central  Africa. 

The  close  of  this  day,  so  eventful  in  the 
life  of  John  Goldwin,  found  him  alone  in  his 


3()  THE  UIVEitTON   MINISTER. 

room  reflecting  and  striving  to  grasp  the 
reality.  He  was  at  last  commissioned  for 
his  life-errand,  and  he  was  glad  to  be  oneo 
more  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  thoughts.  He 
had  struggled  through  one  of  the  streams 
which  mark  a  boundary  and  now  was  plant- 
ing his  feet  on  new  territory.  Or,  he  fancied 
himself  like  one  crossing  a  series  of  moun- 
tains. He  felt  that  he  was  now  on  the  brow 
of  the  first  range.  He  saw  the  long  climb 
behind  him;  home,  school-house,  academy 
and  seminary  were  behind  him.  He  stood 
to-night  on  the  first  summit,  professional  life. 
He  looked  back  at  the  plains  and  hills 
traversed  and  forward  at  the  heights,  still 
above  him  and  to  be  scaled.  He  never  felt 
more  humble,  never  more  thankful,  never 
more  hopeful. 

And  yet  he  was  turning  his  face  from  what 
all  were  pronouncing  a  most  rare  and  attract- 
ive opening.  Prof.  P.  had  asked  him  if  he 
might  recommend  him  to  a  church  in 
Hartland,  Maine,  and  Goldwin  knew  well 
that  this  Professor's  recommendation  was 
bout  equivalent  to  securing  for  him 
the  position.  It  was  a  coveted  position. 
Hartland  was  a  city  noted  for  its  natural 
beauty  and  its  commercial  advantage,  and, 
what  was  more  to  John  Groldwin,  for  its 
refinement  and  high  bred  intelligence.  There 
he  would  have  opportunity  to  pursue  his 
studies  and  gratify  his  pure  tastes;  there  he 
would  be  in  the  center  of  a  large,  apprecia- 
tive, and  inciting  circle  of  kindred  minds, 


THK    KIVKKTOX    MIMSTK.U.  £\ 

s.  ruled  with  abundant  aids,  with  a 
pastor's  library,  maintained  by  an  annual 
fund  from  the  church.  Prof.  E.  had  said  to 
Goldwin,  "Better  think  carefully  before 
declining  such  an  opening." 

He  did  think  carefully,  but  he  could  not  be 
blind  to  the  fact  that  there  were 
probably  scores  of  desirable  person** 
reaCy  to  fill  the  vacancy  at  Hartland, 
anl  he  said,  let  me  go  where  other 
ministers  do  not  go.  He  heard  a  voice 
fop  him  from  the  settlements  multiplying 
and  peopling  as  by  magic  in  the  West.  It 
grew  more  distinct,  daily  more  imperative. 
It  was  his  duty  to  listen  to  it.  He  knew  what 
he  was  declining.  He  wa.s  keenly  alive  to 
the  inducements  to  accept  the  field  which  was 
already  plowed  and  sown  rather  than  that 
which  was  to  be  cleared  of  giant  forests  and 
stumps  and  only  after  many  days  or  years 
of  most  arduous  labor  to  be  brought  under 
the  plow.  Taste,  culture,  emolument,  all 
the  bent  of  his  modest  and  scholarly  nature, 
led  one  way;  but  he  believed  that  duty  and 
the  denial  of  self  for  the  sake  of  the  Crucified, 
led  another  way. 

One  thought,  however,  troubled  him, 
deterred  him,  sometimes,  seemed  about  to 
turn  the  scale.  The  thought  was  of  one 
whom  he  hoped  to  ally  to  himself  in  the 
dearest  of  earthly  bonds.  For  her  sake  how 
he  coveted-  the  already  producing  field  and 
the  already  provided  home.  The  thought  of 
exposure  and  discomfort,  not  for  himself, 


£2  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

that  he  could  bear,  but  for  one  who  had 
always  been  carefully  shielded  from  hard- 
ship, disturbed  him;  tossed  him  as  a  lion  his 
prey. 

And  yet,  after  all,  he  could  not  help  saying, 
"Are  not  women  also  called  to  that  higher 
privilege  of  forgetting  self  in  the  service  of 
others?  Is  not  their  winning  and  purifying 
influence  especially  needed  where  there  are 
so  many  infl  ences  toward  savagery?" 
Goldwin  had  at  first  felt  that  he  was  being 
rent  and  torn  between  contesting  forces,  to 
neither  of  which  he  dared  to  surrender.  But 
with  such  a  man  as  he,  this  could  not  con- 
tinue. Like  the  brave  man  that  he  was,  he 
fought  his  way  out.  The  smoke  and  dust 
fled.  Sweet  light  came  and  he  saw  clearly 
the  strong  angel  of  Duty  pointing  him. 
Westward. 

To-night  he  saw  that  matchless  angel,  saw 
and  wondered  that  he  had  not  seen  before 
that  he  was  Love.  Yes,  he  was  sure  that 
he  had  never  felt  stronger  nor  happier  than 
to-night.  His  soul  overflowed  with  thank- 
fulness and  he  was  girded  with  a  degree  of 
power  unfelt  before. 

As  he  drew  his  chair  up  to  the  table  and 
adjusted  the  shade  of  the  lamp  overhanging 
it,  so  as  to  focus  the  tempered  light  on 
himself  and  the  unwritten  page  before  him, 
all  unconsciously,  he  presented  a  Eembran- 
tesque  study  which  would  have  been  fortune 
and  fame  for  any  artist,  had  he  succeeded  in 
transferring  it  to  canvas.  That  full  and 


THE  R1VERTON  MINISTER.  £% 

finely  modeled  brow,  those  clear,  resolute, 
soulful  eyes,  that  soft  brown  hair  rolling  back 
in  waves,  which  the  elfish  light  was  sowing 
with  shreds  of  gold — unique  embodiment  of 
manhood. 

Then  he  wrote  two  letters;  short  but  full 
of  heart  love.  One  to  his  dear  mother. 
Well  he  knew  that  on  that  memorable  d:ay 
her  thought  and  prayer  had  been  for  him. 
To  her  his  first  word  was  due.  Another  letter 
he  wrote,  sealed  it  and  addressed  it,  "Miss 
Marian  Braddock,  Ryeburgh,  Vermont."  So 
the  "day  was  done"  and  amid  songs  of  peace 
he  slept. 

And  in  visions  of  the  night  he  saw  his 
brother  Thomas  in  a  vast  and  open-air  amphi- 
theatre delivering  an  oration,  and  an  eagle 
sailing  far  above  him,  narrowed  his  circle 
more  and  more,  till  at  last  he  perched  just 
before  the  orator  and  listened  spell  bound. 
And  his  brother  Arthur  was  sitting  at  a  desk 
preparing  an  article  for  the  Middleton 
Journal  and  a  dove  flecked  with  gold  alighted 
upon  his  right  shoulder.  Then  the  scene  of 
the  night  vision  shifted  John  stood  on  the 
brow  of  a  steep  acclivity  and  beckoned  to 
Marian  to  come  to  him.  She  advanced  a  few 
steps  and  then  as  he  extended  his  hand  to 
her,  she  turned  and  fled.  Next  he  saw 
Marian  in  a  sumptuous  and  brilliantly 
illuminated  reception  hall.  Never  did  she 
appear  more  queenly  and  she  wore  a  crown 
of  gold  inwrought  with  precious  stones.  But 
the  crown  broke  in  many  segments,  which, 


34 


THK   U1VKKTON    MINISTER. 


one  after  another,  fell,  crumbling,  to  the 
marble  floor,  and  her  marvelous  beauty  fell 
from  her,  as  petals  from  the  rose.  He  awoke 
in  the  first  gray  of  dawn  and  the  rain  was 
on  the  roof. 


CHAPTER  V. 

A  morning  in  October!  Let  the  poets  sing 
of  it,  but  court  the  muses  assiduously  as  they 
may,  they  never  can  rise  to  the  height  of  the 
theme.  Its  thrill  and  aroma  escape  them. 
Out  of  the  Night  came  clean  Morning,  clad 
in  bridal  robes  fresh  from  the  Sun's  golden 
web. 

John  sprang  up,  singing,  "To  the  Hills,  to 
the  Hills  away."  Now  for  home,  sweet 
home,  and  that  other  home  on  the  heights. 
The  stage  left  at  eight  o'clock.  Thrusting 
into  his  portmanteau  little  tokens  of  remem- 
berance  for  mother  and  brothers,  he  hastened 
around  to  the  village  hotel,  where  "Jehu" 
held  the  reins  and  blew  the  horn.  All  was 
bustle  and  as  usual,  some  were  arriving  at 
the  last  minute  and  there  was  rushing  and 
elbowing,  and  now  and  then  words  escaping 
which  we  will  not  record.  And  there  was 
the  inevitable  stout  woman,  with  a  flaming 
carpet  sachel  swelled  to  bursting,  and  two 
band  boxes  and  an  umbrella,  and  a  small  boy. 
Puffing  and  perspiring  her  way  to  the  front 
she  insisted  upon  riding  on  top.  But  the 
driver  insisted  that  the  upper  seats  were 
taken,  and  that  the  stage  would  be  top 
heavy  and  finally  had  her  squeezed  into  the 


36 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


» 


inside    back   seat    between    two    gentlemen 
whom  she  quite  obscured. 

Four  horses,  seven  passengers  on  deck  and 
ten  in  the  cabin.  Fare  sir,  please.  All 
settled.  Doors  shut  with  a  bang.  All  right. 
Go  ahead,  Jehu;  go  he  does. 

Nature  was  offering  her  best  for  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  journey.  Gold,  and  orange,  and 
crimson  had  here  and  there  crept  into  the 
foliage  and  were  giving  hint  of  gor- 
geous autumn.  Orchards  were  radiant  with 
red-cheeked  apples,  and  the  farm  boys 
were  running  up  ladders  into  the  tree 
tops,  plucking  the  mellow  fruitage  and 
storing  away  in  barrels  so  much  laugh- 
ter and  cheer  for  the  open  fireside  and 
long  winter  evening.  Off  to  the  right  and 
to  the  front,  sunshine  and  shadow  were  chas- 
ing over  the  distant  mountains  and  into  the 
sky.  Cattle  and  sheep  peacefully  grazed, 
or  calves  and  colts  capered,  in  the  undulating 
pastures.  Thrifty  villages,  and  scattered 
along  between,  the  hospitable  barns  and 
neat  and  comfortable  homes,  abodes  of  in- 
telligent freemen,  made  John  Goldwin  proud 
to  say,  "This  is  my  own,  my  native  land." 

The  second  morning  out  brought  fresh 
horses  and  a  change  of  driver,  who  was 
known  along  the  road  as  Jack  Barnett.  Like 
John  Goldwin,  he  sprang  from  a  thrifty  home 
in  Vermont,  and  he  and  the  young  minister 
were  once  mates  in  the  same  district  school. 

In  obedience  to  an  aside  suggestion  from 


THE  IUVIORTON  MINISTER. 


37 


Jack,  Goldwin  climbed  up  to  a  seat  with  him. 

"Some  good  horse  flesh  you  drive?" 

"That  I  do,"replied  Jack,pl eased  to  see  that 
the  young  preacher  observed  his  equine  pets. 
"So  you  know  a  good  horse  as  well  as  a  good 
aerm  on?" 

"Yes,  Jack;  I  believe  I  can  see  the  good 
points  in  each." 

Started  now  on  his  favorite  theme,  Jack 
straightening  himself  up,  said,  "from  a  small 
boy  I  was  always  fond  of  horses  and  not  over 
fond  of  books;  if  I  had  studied  them  as  ea- 
gerly as  I  did  horses,  I  should  have  known 
something  now.  By  the  by,  John,  did  you 
know  how  near  I  came  once  to  going  to  col- 
lege?" 

"No,"  said  John,  looking  eagerly  at  him. 
"Tell  me  how  it  was.  I  wish  you  had  gone." 

"So  do  I  wish  it  now,"  rejoined  Jack,  "but 
you  see,  I  was  a  boy,  and  boy  like,  when 
father  offered  to  send  me  to  college  and  give 
me  a  hundred  dollars  for  each  year  I  was 
there,  or  -give  me  three  hundred  dollars  cash, 
and  'Dick,'  a  splendid  four  year  old  colt, 
I  foolishly  chose  the  cash  and  Dick." 

"Great  mistake,"  said  John,  "a  little  com- 
pulsory education  you  needed  just  then." 

Jack  smiling,  said,  "Guess  I  did.  My  stars! 
If  I  had  got  the  education  Icould  have  earned 
the  three  hundred  dollars  and  the  colt  mighty 
quick." 

"But  then,  "  continued  Goldwin,  "I  sup- 
pose you  thought  that  the  cash  in  hand 


38 


THE   HIVKUTON   MINISTER. 


would  carry  you  a  great  deal  farther  than 
au  education  would.-' 

"O,  yes,"  said  Jack;  "how  my  sister  did 
plead  with  me  to  go  to  college;  told  ine  I'd 
regret  it  all  my  life  if  I  didn't.  But  I  thought 
I  knew  all  that  was  worth  knowing.  Good 
advice  was  thrown  away  on  me.  I  tell  you 
John,  I've  found  out  one  thing;"  emphasizing 
his  words  with  his  whip  stalk,  "it's  brains 
that  win.  Why,  there's  Will  Richards  and 
Abe  Williams,  my  boy  mates;  not  as  bright 
and  quick  to  learn  as  I  was,  if  I  do  say  it, 
who  went  to  college,  got  their  conceit  balls 
pricked,  learned  to  use  their  brains  on  shore 
notice;  and  now,  oh,  my!  look  where  th^y 
are.  I'm  nowhere  compared  with  them" 

"Jack,  you're  orthodox  on  the  college  ques- 
tion." 

"You  better  believe  I  am,"  cried  Jack.  "Ex- 
perience, that  dear  schoolmaster,  has  taught 
me  that  it  takes  training,  learning,  to  put 
value  into  a  horse  or  a  man.  But  so  it  goes/' 
said  he,  as  he  drew  himself  up  and  cracked 
his  long  whip;  "live  and  learn,  you  know." 

"Yes,"  observed  John,  philosophically, 
"foresight  is  better  than  hindsight."  Then 
pointing  to  the  off  leader,  he  added,  "you  be- 
lieve in  education  for  horses.  There's  one 
that  needs  a  little." 

"That's  so,"  rejoined  the  driver,  as  he  gave 
the  delinquent  a  taste  of  the  end  of  his  lash; 
"he  inclines  to  shirk;  have  to  stimulate  him 
occasionally.  There's  a  deal  of  uman  na- 


TIIK  K1VERTON  MINISTER. 


39 


nature  in  horses;  like  men,  they  are  about  as 
selfish  as  they  dare  be." 

"No,  no;"  stoutly  protested  the  young  min- 
ister, "I  doubt  that  concerning  horses  and 
deny  it  concerning  men.  At  any  rate,  tite 
remark  is  to  be  classed  among  those  which 
are  too  sweeping." 

"Well  now,"  answered  Jack,  "I  am  backed 
up  pretty  well,  for  the  good  Book  says  all 
men  are  liars.  How  is  that  for  sweeping*:" 

"Ah,  yes,  David  said  that,  but  confessed 
that  he  said  it  in  his  haste,"  was  the  reply. 

"Well,  anyhow,  "  said  Barnett,  "look  at 
these  horses.  There's  that  off  leader,  old 
lazy  bones,  that  you've  just  admitted  would 
throw  all  the  work  onto  the  others  if  he 
could." 

"O,  just  give  him  a  memento  at  the  lash 
end  of  your  whip;  give  him  something  to 
think  about  and  he's  all  right.  No  very  deep 
selfishness  there,"  interposed  Goldwiii. 

"There's  his  mate,"  pursued  the  driver,  "a 
fiery  fellow  that  needs  watching;  tough  as 
whalebone;  lots  of  service  in  him;  but  you 
never  know  when  or  where  he'll  break  out  in 
some  nonsense;  try  to  rush  up  a  stone  wall 
or  down  a  precipice,  fly  the  track,  and  of 
course,  hurl  everything  to  ruin.  He's  cranky. 
I  call  him  my  'Radical.' ' 

"Crank  is  a  more  appropriate  name,"  in- 
terposed Goldwin. 

"And  here,"  continued  Jack,  "is  this  nigh 
wheel  horse.  She's  doing  splendid  work  today, 
but  she's  just  according  to  the  company  she'* 


40 


"I  UK    UJVKKTON   MINISTER. 


in.  Put  her  alongside  a  young  cut-up  and 
she'd  be  as  fractious  as  the  devil.  I  call  her 
my  'Turn-coat.' ' 

"Bravo,"  cried  John,  patting  him  on  the 
back;  "I'll  have  you  appointed  Professor  of 
Philosophy — horse  philosophy.  Hut  here'* 
one  more  steed.  Give  him  a  character.  1 
should  guess  he's  the  best  horse  in  the  team." 

"You're  right  this  time,"  answered  Bar- 
nett.  "He's  your  old  reliable;  wants  none  of 
your  new  f angled  ways;  knows  the  beaten 
track  and  keeps  it  right  on  to  the  day  of 
judgment.  I  call  him  'Old  Conservative.'  " 

"Very  good,"  retorted  the  young  minister, 
but  with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye  asked,  "how 
about  your  theory?  That  horse  character 
does  not  look  selfish." 

"But  what,"  reasoned  the  driver,  "if  this 
horse  concludes  that  good  behavior  generally 
secures  good  treatment;  that  steady,  straight 
work  is  the  better  for  himself  in  the  long 
run?  Then  the  motive  with  the  horse,  as 
with  men,  is  selfishness  after  all." 

"No,  no;"  interrupted  Goldwin;  "not  self- 
ishness but  self-interest ;  quite  a  different 
thing  and  quite  right,  too  Self-interest  is 
regard  for  No.  1,  so  far  as  that  does  not  in- 
terfere with  No.  2  or  any  other  number.  That 
is  natural  and  justifiable,  and  harnesses  man- 
kind together  in  harmony.  But  selfishness 
is  all  for  No.  1,  to  the  neglect  or  destruction 
of  every  other  number.  Self-interest  ax- 
cords  with  the  Golden  T'ule:  selfishness 
•clashes  with  it.  Self-interest  is  the  pure 


THE  RIVBRTON 


41 


brain  feeding-  grain;  selfishness  is  that  graim 
turning  sour  and  poisonous." 

"Rotting  into  whiskey,  I  'spose  you  mean," 
said  Jack. 

"That's  about  it,  I  guess,"  assented  Gold- 
win. 

"Well,"  said  Jack,  who  in  his  heart  wa« 
really  pleased  to  see  how  his  old  acquaint- 
ance with  a  word  poured  daylight  into  the 
subject,  "I  see  that  you  are  professor  of  the- 
ology and  I  am  only  professor  of  horseology. 
But  then,  you  know,  every  man  has  hi» 
price." 

"No,  I  don't  know  that,"  said  John  Gold- 
win.  "I  know  that  it  is  said  that  every  man 
can  be  bought  if  you  will  only  come  to  hi» 
price;  but  I  know  that,  like  many  another 
popular  saying,  it  is  too  sweeping.  Every 
man  has  his  price — so  the  devil  affirmed  con- 
cerning Job,  but  Job  was  too  much  for  him. 
And  your  own  observation  won't  bear  you 
out.  You  know,  Jack,  for  example,  that  your 
good  father  and  mother  are  not  actuated  by 
selfishess;  far  enough  from  it." 

A  tender  look  came  over  Barnett's  bronzed 
face,  as  he  thought  of  the  dear  old  folks  at 
home. 

Now  they  were  approaching  a  station, 
the  last  before  climbing  the  mountain. 

"Here  I  always  bring  out  my  Methodists," 
said  Jack,  with  a  mysterious  air. 

"All  right,"  said  the  minister,  "that  will 
insure  progress." 

The  coach  dashed  up  to  the  village  hotel, 


4<2  THE   UIVEKTON    MINISTER. 

its  arrival  the  only  sign  of  life  in  the  sleepy 
hamlet.  The  small  boy  suddenly  danced 
attendance,  eyes  and  mouth  open,  watching 
every  movement  of  the  driver,  doing  him  any 
little  service  as  obseqiously  as  the  Postmaster 
does  for  his  Congressman,  and  aching  for  the 
day  when  he  can  take  the  driver's  throne  and 
whirl  the  long  whip  so  adroitly  as  to  behead 
a  fly  on  the  leader's  flank. 

"All  aboard,"  shouted  the  driver,  and 
started  for  a  climb  of  seven  miles.  Mr.  Gold- 
win  observed: 

"We  have  six   horses  now." 

"Oh,  yes,"  was  the  reply,  "those  fresh 
leaders  I  always  put  on  for  the  climb. 
They're  all  go  ahead,  like  to  lead  and  the3r 
put  new  life  into  the  other  horses.  They'll 
be  tuckered  out  against  we  reach  the  summit 
and  there  they'll  lay  off.  I  call  them  my 
'Methodists'.  " 

The  young  minister  laughed  and  said,  "I 
am  glad  to  see  that  the  stage  has  a  good 
strong  Oalvinistic  break.  But  whew!  How 
we  have  to  take  the  dust.  My  eyes  are  full 
of  it." 

"Well,  you  know,  its  the  man  who  carries 
the  dust  that  fills  the  public  eye,"  said  phil- 
osophic Jack,  as  he  skillfully  trotted  his  team 
around  a  sharp  curve. 

Goldwin  smiled  at  these  grains  of  wisdom 
culled  from  the  dust.  From  admiring  the 
almost  human  sensitiveness  of  the  faithful 
horses  to  the  voice  and  hands  of  the  driver, 


THE  KIVEKTON  MINISTER.  4.3 

now,  as  the  crest  of  the  mountain  was 
reached,  he  became  absorbed  in  the  resplend- 
ent vision,  both  the  outward  and  the  inward. 
For  all  he  saw — the  wide  area  of  earth  and 
sky — was  canvas  and  palette  for  his  mind- 
painting.  The  disappearing  sun  was  casting 
cloud-deeps  around  his  going,  now  moated 
and  embattled  castles  of  crimson,  unfurling 
pendants  of  fire;  now  walls  and  towers  and 
cities  of  purple  and  gold,  whose  reflected 
radiance  lay  aslant  earth  and  sky,  robing  a 
world  in  softened  light. 

"What  can  equal  this,"  exclaimed  Goldwin,, 
"Those  sun-swathed  clouds!  They  roll  and 
billow  magnificently.  Sea  of  glory!" 

"Well  yes,  noiw  that  you  speak  of  it,  that 
is  a  fine  sight,"  said  Jack,  "I  winder  I  had 
not  seen  it  before." 

Forms  and  faces  radiant  with  love,  John 
Goldwin  was  seeing  on  that  canvas.  Mother 
and  brothers  and  home,  and  that  other  face 
now  never  quite  absent  from  his  sight,  were 
seen  in  every  water  drjp  and  flower  and 
cloud.  He  wa,s  indeed  on  the  crest  of  the 
mountain. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Ryeburgh  was  a  village  clinging  to  a  Ver- 
mont hillside,  and  like  a  sleepless  sentinel 
on  the  outpost,  was  keeping  watch  over  the 
low  country  and  the  placid  Champlain; 
chiefly  distinguished,  however,  to  us  and  the 
young  minister  with  whose  history  we  are 
now  concerned,  because  here  lived  Marian 
Braddock.  Her  father  was  then  and  for 
years  had  been  the  clergyman  of  the  town. 
For  years,  too,  he  had  been  one  of  the  trustees 
of  Middleton  College,  and  even  little  Rye- 
burgh  could  tell  of  ten  or  twelve  students 
whom  he  had  started  in  Latin  and  Greek  and 
inspired  with  aspirations  which,  by  dint  of 
struggle  and  much  self-help,  carried  them 
throur;L.  the  Middleton  curriculum. 

Marian  was  about  four  and  twenty,  tall, 
gracefully  molded,  with  hair  that  was  dark 
and  eyes  which  were  intensely  dark,  and  a 
countenance  beaming  with  intelligence  and 
glowing  with  suppressed  fire.  There  was 
that  about  her  which  drew  attention. 
One  upon  meeting  her  would  wish  to  study 
her;  not  so  much,  however,  because  of  elicited 
affection,  as  by  way  of  mental  speculation. 

She  had  a  select  class  of  twenty  or  more 
young  ladies  whom  she  instructed  in  French 
and  also  in  History,  English  and  American, 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  AK 

and  in  general  literature.  Her  pupils  were 
gathered  from  a  wider  vicinage  than  little 
Ryeburgh,  and  while  they  respected  and 
admired,  could  none  of  them  really  be  said  to 
love  her.  Yet  there  was  always  on  the  part 
of  Miss  Braddock  amenity,  dignity,  perfection 
of  manner  and  sparkling  naivete  which 
rendered  her  very  attractive.  There  clung  to 
her  something  of  the  freshness  and  piquancy 
of  her  mountain  atmosphere,  and  with  all,  a 
certain  bewitching  flavor  of  originality  and 
independence  It  is  surely  not  surprising 
that  Middleton  students  often  competed  for 
the  privilege  of  sniffing  the  air  of  this  rare 
mountain  blossom.  Mr.  Goldwin,  on  arriving 
home,  sought  the  first  opportunity  to  call  and 
pass  an  evening  with  Marian. 

"Well,  John,"  said  she,  "I  suppose  you  are 
a  bird  feathered  out,  wings  .plumed,  for  they 
say  you  are  now  full  fledged.  Bird  of 
Paradise,  probably." 

"O  no,  still  bird  of  earth,  and  of  humble 
feather  and  flight."  Then  he  added  more 
seriously,  "Nevertheless,  Marian,  as  soon  as 
set  free,  I  do  'Flee  as  a  bird  to  your 
mountain.' " 

"O  then,  jail  bird  escaped  from  prison!" 
Marian  archly  replied,  "Complimentary  to 
that  Theological  Seminary.  One  would  sup- 
pose that  to  be  a  veritable  Saint's  Rest." 

"Veritable  gathering  of  the  sons  of  God, 
Marian,  but  as  of  old,  Satan  came  also  amon** 
them." 

"Then,"  slso  rptortod,    "it    would 


46 


THE  RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 


that  you  young  theologians  haven't  exorcised 
him.  Hope  you  haven't  been  'donning  the 
livery  of  heaven'  though." 

"No,  nothing  more  sacred  than  sober  black 
broadcloth. 

She  smiling  added,  "After  all,  I  guess  you 
needed  his  Majesty  to  stir  you  up,  for  it  must 
be  very  monotonous  not  to  have  a  little  spice 
of  sin." 

"They  do  say,"  returned  John,  "that  the 
Devil  is  a  profound  theologian,  and  what's 
more  than  can  be  said  of  some  theologians, 
strictly  orthodox." 

"Yes,"  said  she,  "no  one  quotes  Scripture 
more  aptly  for  his  purpose  than  he  does/' 
Then  turning  to  John,  she  added,  "Well  now, 
I  suppose  you  feel  as  though  you  were  shoved 
out  mid-streams  and  must  bear  down  on  the 
oars." 

"I  must,"  said  he,  "as  soon  as  I  have 
secured  a  fellow  passenger."  His  features 
lighted  up,  and  fastening  his  earnest  eyes 
upon  her,  he  continued,  "Marian,  I  have  come 
here  to  this  old  mountain  home  to  find  my 
mate.  As  I  wrote  you  I  have  chosen  the 
West.  Will  you  go  with  me?" 

Marian's  black  eyes  dropped  for  an  instant. 
Then  there  was  just  the  slightest  curl  to  her 
lips  as  she  turned  to  Goldwin  and  said,  "Par- 
don me  John,  I  don't  want  to  wound  your 
feelings,  but  I  must  frankly  tell  you  that  you 
ask  too  much  of  me.  New  England  is  our 
natural  home  and  you  are  needed  here." 


47 


At  this  a  (-loud  passed  over  Uoldwin's  face. 
And  Marian,  who  usually  bore  herself  with 
that  refined  self-control  and  composure  which 
is  the  instinct  of  good  breeding,  and  could  sit 
with  feet  still  and  hands  carefully  clasped  in 
her  lap  and  entertain  her  company  delight- 
fully, to-night,  in  spite  of  herself,  gave  unmis- 
takable signs  that  a  mental  tempest  was  on. 
To-night,  she  was  unquiet.  To-night  she  was 
half  gesticulating,  or  suddenly  starting  in 
her  chair. 

Kesuming,  she  said,  "John,  you  have 
adopted  such  romantic  notions;. you  have  left 
this  practical  age  and  gone  back  into  the 
dreams  of  knight-errantry." 

"How  so?  Please  offer  some  proof  of  your 
charge." 

"Proof!  When  the  way  opened  to  that  fine 
church  at  Hartland  you  should  have  entered 
in  at  once,  taking  it  as  the  bidding  of  Provi- 
dence, as  I  believe  it  was.  So  would  anyone 
have  done  who  was  not  afloat  on  romantic 
impracticable  ideas;  and  if  you  had  gone  to 
Hartland,  I  would  have  been  ready  to  go  with 
yon.  There  I  could  still  pursue  my  studies  in 
modern  languages  and  literature:  there  I 
should  find  occasion  to  use  all  my  acquire- 
ments and  so  would  you.  But  of  what  avail 
all  our  acquisitions,  if  we  are  to  spend  our 
days  among  half  breeds  and  Potawotomies? 
If  worst  comes  to  worst,  I  think  I  can  be  a 
martyr,  but  I  shall  have  to  say  that  I  am 
hardly  ready  to  go  chasing  after  martyrdom 
in  this  style." 


48 


THE  ItlVERTON  MINISTER. 


It  was  obvious  that  John  Goldwin  was 
taken  quite  unawares  by  this,  Marian's  decla- 
ration of  independence.  Was  she  to  give  him 
clear  instance  in  proof  of  Jack  Barnett's 
assertion  that  all  the  world  are  about  as 
selfish  as  they  dare  to  be? 

He  arose  and  paced  the  room  for  a 
moment — only  a  moment,  and  then,  by  a 
strong  effort,  resumed  his  wonted  composure 
and  turning  to  Marian,  said,  "You  misunder- 
stand me,  and  I  must  add,  disappoint  me. 
I  have  thought  this  all  over  many,  many 
times.  I  know  well  the  attractions  of  a 
settlement  in  one  of  the  centers  of  New 
England's  best  culture.  I  am  keenly  alive 
to  them;  for  your  sake  I  covet  them.  Out  of 
devotion  to  you,  I  had  once  almost  turned 
from  what  I  esteem  to  be  my  duty  and 
accepted  those  attractions." 

He  paused  a  moment,  but  she  not  reply- 
ing, in  a  deep  voice  he  proceeded,  "To-night, 
Marian,  has  been  a  revelation  to  me.  You  do 
not  look  at  life  from  my  point  of  view.  The 
difference  is  radical." 

"Yes,"  said  Marian,  "I  think  it  is." 

"After  all,"  pursued  Goldwin,  "it  is  entirely 
according  to  one's  view  point.  Motive  makes 
or  mars.  To  lead  the  scouts  and  station  the 
picket  guards  of  Christian  civilization,to  carry 
peace  and  love  into  the  great  army  of  occu- 
pation whose  tents  gleam  far  away  toward 
the  sunset,  to  establish  along  those  streams 
and  over  those  prairies  the  impregnable 
defenses  of  freedom,  patriotism  and  Christian 


THK  RIVBRTON  MINISTER,  ^g 

brotherhood- -tell  me,  Marian,  if  it  is  the 
inviting  field  you  seek,  where  is  there  more 
inviting  than  this?  Does  not  the  true  soldier, 
if  given  him  to  choose,  ask  for  the  front,  and 
where  the  fight  is  thickest?  Let  my  torch 
flame  where  the  darkness  is  deepest.  To  me 
that  is  the  'inviting  field/  ' 

"Wilil  dream!  Morbid,  morbid  prefer- 
ence!" she  exclaimed,  but  he  was  not  to  be 
interrupted. 

"Already,"  he  continued,  "there  are  dozens 
of  good  men  eager  for  that  church  at  Hart- 
land.  Let  me  not  crowd  them.  Let  me  go 
where  the  harvest  is  whitening  and  the  labor- 
ers are  few.  I  go  to  share  with  the  pioneer; 
to  help  him  break  the  soil  for  Christian  homes 
and  institutions.  I  go  to  grow  with  the 
growth  of  villages,  cities,  and  states.  I  go  to 
do  as  God  gives  me  strength,  for  the  wilds 
of  Ohio  or  Indiana  or  Illinois,  what  heroic 
men  of  God  from  Massachusetts  and  Connect- 
icut did  a  hundred  years  ago  for  the  wilds  of 
Vermont.  'Chasing  after  martyrdom ?'  Not 
I.  Nor  am  I  chasing  after  personal  ease,  or 
gratification  of  my  social  and  literary  tastes 
and  ambitions.  If  this  come  to  me  i  shall 
be  glad  and  thankful,  but  the  voice  of  Him 
whose  name  is  written  forever  in  my  heart 
bids  me  'Away.' " 

John  in  his  fervor  and  self-forgetfulness 
stood  before  Marian  pouring  out  these  impas- 
sioned words,  his  face  lighted  with  a  power 
and  gleam  which  amazed,  for  the  moment, 
almost  overcame  her. 


50  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

But  as  he  sank  into  a  chair,  she  resumed, 
"Really  John,  it  seems  to  me  such  a  waste  of 
education  and  talent.  Seems  like  polishing 
pearls  to  set  in  a  plough  handle,  or  bestowing 
rare  carving  upon  an  axe  helve." 

"But  is  it  waste?"  said  Goldwin,  "that  is 
the  very  question.  To  seek  to  make  the  great 
West,  now  rioting  in  natural  beauty,  blossom 
with  moral  beauty — is  personal  sacrifice  on 
our  part  to  this  end  a  waste?  Do  facts  sus- 
tain your  assumption?  But,  Marian,  do  you 
suppose  I  insist  upon  your  accompanying  me 
now?" 

"O,"  said  she,  "vou  have  no  thought  of 
being  unreasonable.  I  am  sure  of  that. 
Still  I  think  I  know  you  well  enough  to  be 
also  sure  that  the  darkest  place  you  can  find 
is  the  one  you  will  go  into,  and  I  feel  I  ought 
to  tell  you  that  such  is  not  my  mood. 
Frankly,  I  am  not  ambitious  of  self 
sepulchering." 

John  turned  to  her  in  silence,  a  silence 
burdened  with  pity  and  soft  reproach,  a 
silence  which  said,  "I  see  it  all  now;  now 
Marian,  I  understand  you  and  I  think  you 
understand  me,  although  I  do  not  think  you 
quite  appreciate  my  motive.  Your  soul  is 
tuned  to  another  key  than  mine.  On  the 
major  chords  of  life  we  cannot  harmonize." 
Then  slowly,  very  slowly,  but  decidedly  he 
said  audibly,  "We  must  play  our  parts 
separately." 

They  sat  looking  into  the  fire.  The  hickory 
log  had  crumbled  into  a  heap  of  ruddy  coals 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER 


51 


and  was  giving  its  fierce  but  final  throbs  of 
heat.  They  watched  as  already  those  coals 
began  to  take  on  the  darkness  of  dying. 
John  saw  in  those  cinders  his  hopes,  but  now 
so  bright,  turning  to  ashes.  The  old  clock  in 
the  back  hall  deliberately  spoke  twelve  times. 
Roused  from  his  meditations,  John  rose  up  to 
go.  Then  with  indescribably  sad  sincerity 
he  turned  his  eloquent  eyes  upon  Marian,  took 
her  hand  and  said,  "Good  bye,  Marian,  God 
be  with  you."  She  replied,  with  just  the 
slightest  tremor  in  her  voice,  "Good  bye, 
John."  Neither  dared  trust  themselves  to 
say  more.  For  an  instant  they  stood  silent 
with  clasped  hands.  Then  John  Goldwin 
went  out  into  the  night.  Marian  lingered  on 
the  threshold  till  he  was  hidden  in  the  deep- 
ening shadow.  "Noble  soul!"  was  her  thought 
as  she  turned  from  the  chill  of  the  night  air 
to  the  waning  fire,  and  bringing  the  several 
embers  together,  hovered  over  them,  seeking 
for  some  time  to  marshal  her  conflicting 
thoughts.  The  occasional  flicker  of  blue 
flame  was  so  in  keeping  with  the  complexion 
of  her  reflections.  The  room,  always  hereto- 
fore attractive,  seemed  now  oppressively 
empty,  and  the  great  clock  annoy ingly  obtru- 
sive. She  heard  distinctly,  in  the  great 
silence,  the  slow,  measured  breathing  of 
father  and  mother  as  they  sweetly  rested. 
It  seemed  to  mock  her  restlessness.  G  ol dwin 
was  still  before  her.  The  spell  of  his  noble 
presence  was  still  upon  her.  But  it  was  to 
her  Goldwin  radiant  and  transfigured. 


52 


THE   R1VERTON"  MINISTER. 


She  had  forged,  as  she  had  complacently 
thought,  a  perfect  chain  of  argument;  she  had 
tried  every  link  and  supposed  't  flawless;  she 
had  brought  it  forward  so  confidently  for 
Goldwin  to  admire,  and  no  magician's  wand 
ever  swept  an  obstacle  aside  as  easily  and 
majestically  as  he  had  this.  She  was  morti- 
fied, half  vexed  with  herself,  now  that  she 
felt  that  what  she  had  delighted  to  call  the 
lustre  of  her  position  and  vantage  was  only 
a  self-illusion.  What  inward  commotion 
more  harassing  than  to  be  convinced  against 
one's  will? 

Rising  with  forced  resolution,  Marian  took 
a  book  from  the  table,  an  elegant  volume  of 
choice  selections  from  the  poets,  in  which  was 
a  card  bearing  the  name  of  John  Goldwin, 
and  retiring  to  her  own  apartment,  laid  it 
beside  a  package  of  letters  in  her  private 
drawer,  closed  the  drawer  and  locked  it. 
Then,  betaking  herself  to  her  pillow,  at  last, 
in  the  first  gray  of  morning,  she  fell  into  a 
troubled  sleep. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

The  New  World!  Volumes  in  the  word! 
With  what  exultation  John  Goldwin  repeated 
them  as  he  looked  out  from  his  window  at 
Kiverton,  as  he  stood  on  "the  hill"  and 
followed  with  his  eye  the  two  rivers  Poca- 
nock  and  Rappilee  disclosed  here  and  there  by 
rifts  in  the  almost  universal  forests:  as 
he  paused  here  and  there  before  some  giant 
tree  of  immense  girth,  as  he  thought 
of  the  lumber  and  houses  growing  in  such 
trees,  and  of  the  mills  and  factories 
latent  in  those  rivers.  He  sought  to  conceive 
<>r  that  untra  versed  landscape,  as  it  soon 
would  be  when  transformed  into  the  abode 
of  thousands  of  happy  homes,and  of  churches 
nrir)  school?  and  libraries,  and  halls  of  justice 
and  <>r  art,  and  the  center  of  a  population 
rivaling  in  numbers  and  affluence  that  of  the 
Eastern  coast.  Here,  be  said,  I  surely  have 
the  field  and  no  one  has  larger  in  area  or  in 
potential  greatness.  I  build  on  no  other 
man's  foundation.  Gut  and  carve  as  I  may, 
I  trespass  on  no  one.  A  blank  page  and  I  am 
bidden  to  write.  Enthusiasm,  hope,  imagin- 
ation, have  the  freedom  of  the  New  World. 
If  only  I  may  instigate  moral  advances  here 
on  ;-!  scale  commensurate  with  the  coinmer- 
;ui  VMM  tags-  iuul  opportunity  and  the 


54 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


natural  beauty  and  opulence  of  Biverton. 
His  heart  burned  with  holy  chivalry. 

Material  was  at  hand,  but  it  was  largely 
raw  material.  The  timber  had  braved  all 
sorts  of  weather  and  was  naturally  gnarly 
and  tough.  Eiverton  was  an  Indian  trading 
post,  one  of  the  points  selected  by  the  govern- 
ment from  which  to  mete  out  annual,  or  semi- 
annual payments  to  the  original  tribes  of  the 
soil.  Here  the  Indian  commissioner  and 
general  navmaster,  General  Tupper,  had  his 
headquarters.  At  this  date  the  settlement 
was  largely  composed  of  adventurers  who 
were  playing  the  game  for  sudden  wealth. 
The  superintendent,  General  Tupper,  was 
renowned  for  his  wisdom  and  fairness. 
Nevertheless,  here,  as  a  rule,  it  was  the 
unscrupulous  white  man  pitted  against  the 
childish  red  man.  A  community  delirious 
with  the  fury  of  the  gambler  was  not  the  most 
promising  material  out  of  which  to  frame 
stable  Christian  homes  and  model  society. 
Children  in  snch  atmosphere  inhaled  lewd- 
ness  and  lawlessness.  Money  and  self-indul- 
gence were  the  thought;  sensuality  the 
pleasure. 

We,  who  Vnow  it  only  through  retrospect, 
easily  (magnify  the  romance  of  the  pioneer  life; 
but,  to  those  who  encountered  the  facts,  life 
was  not  all  romance.  The  only  private  house 
at  which  John  Goldwin  succeeded  in  secur- 
ing boarding  and  lodging  for  the  winter  was 
in  the  cabin  of  John  Dale,  who  had  a  large 
and  increasing  family.  Thie  easy  going  Pater 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


55 


Famiiias  was  aninoyingly  disregardful  of  the 
proprieties  of  life;  quite  disdained  pocket 
handkerchiefs  so  long  as  hie  possessed  a  shirt 
sleeve  or  coat-tail,  and  thought  no  spot  too 
good  for  Ms  generous  distributions  of  tobacco 
juice. 

One  curtained  cornier  of  the  large  family 
room  was  Goldwin's  bedroom  and  study. 
All  varieties  of  life  and  how  thin  the  parti- 
tion between!  The  priesthood  has  often 
been  injured  by  withdrawal  from  the  world. 
This  danger  did  not  threaten  this  minister. 
Sitting  room,  dining  room,  bed  room  and 
kitchien  were  very  conveniently  accessible, 
since  all  were  built  on  the  great  American 
principle  of  many  in  one.  Many  were  the 
"asides"  here  in  the  homiletic  drama,  and  the 
comedy  of  life  was  hard  by  on  the  same  stage. 
Sometimes  the  sermon  became  too  ethereal 
for  earth, and  taking  on  ascension  robes,  went 
up  the  capacious  chimney,  along  with  the 
smoke  and  with  the  inoensie  of  the  crane  and 
the  dutch  oven.  This  house  which  Goldwhi 
and  a  few  others  occupied,  was  so  con- 
structed as  to  secure  an  abundance  of  ventila- 
tion, so  that  the  family  were  not  in  bad  odor. 
The  winter  blasts  piped  and  whistled  and 
roared  and  howled — kept  a  whole  menag- 
erie— under  the  loose  floor  and  between  the 
logs,  and  often  a  miniature  snow  drift  came 
unsolicited  through  the  chinks. 

The  menu  of  the  Dale  house  grew  less  and 
less  varied,  more  and  more  devoted  to  thai 


56 


THE  RTVBRTON  MINISTER. 


which  would  "stay  by  one,"  until  finally  it 
recorded  a  steady  diet  of  fried  pork  in  the 
morning,  roast  or  boiled  pork  at  noon,  and 
salt  pork,  or  occasionally  pork  sausage,  at 
night.  Therefore  swinish  propensities  were 
not  unaccountable.  Who  can  wonder  that 
that  which  was  called  the  light  bread  was 
not  always  worthy  of  that  name;  and  the 
biscuit,  often  soggy,  were  often  soaked  with 
lard.  This  refectory  was  a  severe  trial  to 
the  sensitive  stomach  of  a  student,  and  not 
conducive  to  cheerful  reflections.  Winters 
are  non  productive,  but  this  one  produced  for 
Goldwin  a  dyspepsia  which  was  tenacious  as 
life  and  relentless  as  death. 

The  young  minister's  library,  at  the  best 
not  large,  having  come  a«  far  as  Buffalo, 
wintered  there  until  navigation  opened  late 
in  the  Spring.  Hence  his  reading,  for  the 
first  five  months  in  Riverton,  was  confined  to 
his  Bible  and  hymn  book.  Well  could  he 
write  to  his  mother  that  never  before  had  the 
old  Bible  been  such  a  treasure  to  him. 

Mrs.  Dale,  the  presiding  genius  of  the 
household,  was  a,  fair  representative  of  the 
pioneer  mother.  How  she  was  able  to  keep 
her  family  clad  and  fed  will  ever  be  a  mys- 
tery, and  ungracious  beyond  endurance 
would  be  he  who  should  dwell  upon  any  infe- 
licities which  would  sometimes  intrude  into 
her  department;  the  miracle  was  that  there 
were  not  more.  Few  great  commanders, 
whose  renown  has  come  down  the  ages,  dis- 


THE   BIVERTON  MINISTER. 


57 


played  more  tact,  ingenuity  or  generalship, 
or  mastered  greater  difficulties  than  did  Mrs. 
Elizabeth  Dale.  To  say  that  she  did  what 
she  could  is  to  render  but  scant  justice. 
Time  would  grow  weary  to  enumerate  how 
often  she  had  to  face  the  old  problem,  "how 
to  make  bricks  without  straxv."  The  light  of 
the  rude  cabin  of  the  early  settler,  beckoning 
alike  to  rich  and  poor  to  share  its  slender 
store,  was  the  patient,  plucky,  resourceful 
pioneier  wife  and  mother. 

At  this  time  the  only  public,  building  hi 
the  settlement  was  the  school  house.  It  was 
erected  on  the  economical  plan  of  serving 
also  as  a  public  hall,  and  was  open  to  any- 
thing which  called  the  people  together. 
General  Tupper,  hitherto  the  guiding  mind 
of  the  town,  a  ma.n  of  large  landed  posses- 
sions centering  at  Kiverton,  and  marked  by 
a  generous  public  spirit,  had  insisted  that 
whatever  else  halted,  education  must  not,  and 
that  a  commodious  school  building  must  be 
at  once  erected.  He  donated  to  Riverton  the 
grounds  on  which  it  stood,  and  also  reserved 
a  handsome  site  on  a  little  eminence  east  of 
the  town,  on  which  it  was  designed  that  in  a 
few  years  should  be  reared  a  County 
Academy. 

Men  and  women-  came  to  the  school  house 
to  "the  preachin',"  as  they  phrased  it,  in 
glorious  freedom  from  the  tyranny  of  fash- 
ion. They  fostered  home  manufactures,  and 
the  styles  were  almost  as  many  and 


5g  THE   RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 

individual  as  the  persons.  Young  Gold- 
win  met  with  all  the  respect,  if  not 
devout  ness  which  could  be  expected;  an 
admission  of  the  claims  of  religion  in 
genera],  coupled  quite  too  often  with 
an  ignoring  of  them  in  particular.  The 
ruling  spirits  of  Riverton  were  on  the  whole 
rather  proud  to  have  a  minister  among  them 
—"helped  to  give  character  and  dignity  to 
the  town,"  "sort'o  handy  at  a  funeral," 
"seemed  like  it  used  to  be  back  East  or  down 
in  Virginy."  "Old  Nat.  Hawkins"  vowed  he 
had  no  use  for  preachers;  they  wer'n't  pro- 
ducers nohow,  and  for  his  part,  he  couldn't 
see  what  good  such  as  he  was  to  a  town. 

"He's  only  a  boy;  doesn't  look  a  day  over 
twenty,"siaid  "Tim"  the  blacksmith,dis'dam- 
fully. 

"Now,  don't  you  fool  yourself,"  interposed 
Sol  Perkins,  "them  light  complected  fellers 
is  mighty  deceivin';  he's  a  heap  nig'her  thirty 
than  twenty." 

"Well"  replied  Hawkins,  as  he  assumed  a 
very  wise  look,  "all  I  have  to  say  is  that  he'll 
get  his  eye-teeth  cut  if  he  squats  in 
Riverton." 

"That  he  will,"  echoed  a  dozen  voices,  ac- 
customed to  echo  Ha/wkins. 

At  that  Sam  Drake  slowly  drew  his  pipe 
from  his  mouth  and  said,  "I  ca'culate  you'll 
find  that  air  man  Goldwin  is  nobody's  fool, 
if  he  is  young  like.  I'll  bet  you'll  find  he's  a 
good  head  on  them  shoulders  of  his'en." 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


59 


"Well,  now  boys,"  said  Daniel  Pierpont, 
and  they  all  turned  attentive  ears  to  this 
young  lawyer  a^nd  recent  comer  to  Riverton, 
who  had  thus  far  kept  silence;  "I  make  no 
pretensions  to  religion,  and  count  myself  no 
better  than  you,  but  I  believe  in  religion  and 
I  favor  the  preacher.  I  was  brought  up  to 
good  morals,  if  I  have  backslid  a  little,  and 
I  tell  you  I  wouldn't  bring  up  a  family  where 
there  are  no  Sundays  and  no  churches.  S:am 
Drake  is  right;  this  man  Goldwin  looks  like 
genuine  stuff,  and  I  say  give  him  a  chance. 
Condemn  no  man  until  you've  given  him  a 
hearing." 

"That's  good  law,"  chimed  a  chorus  of 
voices. 

"Them's  my  sentiments,"  declared  Land- 
lord Grande,  who,  now  that  Pierpont  had 
spoken  so  decidedly,  ventured  to  crawl  out 
of  his  shell. 

"Free  country,"  said  one;  "a  little  religion 
won't  hurt,"  said  another;  and  so  the  con- 
versation passed  to  other  topics.  During  this 
canvass  of  the  minister's  merits,  Stubbs  the 
half-breed,  although  standing  in  the  back- 
ground, and  preserving  an  appearance  of 
stolid  indifference,  was  listening  with  both 
ears  and  weighing  every  word. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

John  Goldwin,  fVom  a  boy,  had  loved  lo  flee 
to  his  mother  and  speak  his  heart  to  her. 
Now,  so  far  away  from  her,  he  beguiled  many 
a  tedious  hour  by  writing  to  her.  But  mail 
carriage  was  not  then  an  easy  thing.  Com- 
munication with  the  Eastern  stales  \v;is  ;i 
matter  of  from  two  weeks  to  two  months,  ac- 
cording to  the  season  of  the  year,  and  the  con- 
dition of  the  roads,  and  of  navigation.  The 
latter  was  practically  tied  up  for  at  least  one 
fourth  of  the  year.  Letter  postage  was 
twenty-five  cents.  The  following  is  one  of 
the  letters  Goldwin  posted  to  his  mother  dur- 
ing his  first  winter  in  Riverton. 
My  Dear  Mother: 

How  I  do  appreciate  you,  now  that  there 
is  half  a  continent  between  us.  What  would 
I  not  give  to  look  at  men  and  things 
through  your  eyes,  as  well  as  my  own.  1 
need  your  sedate,  careful  and  womanly 
reflections,  cast  in  with  my  glowing, 
hopeful,  youthful  dreams.  The  two  well 
mixed  might  compound  something  about 
right.  An  ounce  of  good  mother  instinct 
would  outvalue  a  pound  of  man  logic,  and 
might  throw  a  fender  around  the  fires  of  my 
ardor,  so  that  stern  reality  should  not  scatter 


THE    BIVBRTON    MINISTER. 


61 


them.  Mother,  how  would  a  wife  do  for  n 
fender? 

Here  everything  is  in  the  future  tense — 
no  past-perfect  tense,  no  precedents  in  these 
wilds.  And  yet  none  of  us  are  clear  of  the 
past;  would  that  some  I  could  name  here 
were.  Opinion  is  often  but  another  way  of 
speling  prejudice  or  custom.  One  man  wants 
everything  as  it  used  to  be  in  "old  Vermont,7' 
(which  is  not  so  bad,  is  it?)  and  another  as 
in  "old  Virginia."  Why  not  compromise  on 
a  course  which  follows  neither  of  these 
guides?  If  we  could  only  make  this  new 
world  new  indeed!  If,  quit  of  every  relic  of 
wrong,  pure  of  ancient  taint,  we  were  plastic 
to  the  hand  of  reason!  Why  carry  with  us 
the  impedimenta  which  have  clogged  the 
older  communities?  It  would  seem  as 
though  our  opportunity,  such  as  cornes  not 
again  in  ain  age,  would  tempt  into  larger  pur- 
poses and  lift  us  into  a  greater  life.  And  I 
believe  it  will  too.  Mother,  I  tell  you  I  have 
great  faith  in  this  young  giant  West.  Pro- 
vidence has  untold  grandeur  and  leadership 
in  store  for  her. 

And  yet,  mother,  it  must  be  confessed  that 
the  people  here  are  quite  on  other  thoughts 
intent.  To  read  their  titles  clear  to  man- 
sions on  earth  is  full  enough.  Gain  is  god- 
lines.s  Hospitable  we  are  here,  open-palmed, 
swift  to  resent  an  injury.  Of  the  two  spe- 
cies under  the  genus  American,  we  have  more 
of  the  Jamestown  and  less  of  the  Plymouth. 


62 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


Send  us  more  Pilgrim  Rock.  No  building 
material  like  that.  Green  Mountain  rock  '11 
do — chip  of  the  old  block — no  discount  on 
Vermont  granite.  Sometimes  even  a  little  of 
it  does  wonders. 

Now,  mother,  don't  for  a  moment  suppose 
that  I  say  these  things,  except  in  a  whisper 
to  you.  Not  I.  I  never  draw  comparisons 
here,  nor  say  Plymouth  Rock  nor  Pilgrim  Fa- 
thers. I  am  alone.  No  one  is  unkind,  and 
yet  my  very  mission  does  hedge  me  off,  and 
I  find  no  one  quite  like-minded  to  whom  I 
can  open  my  deepest  longings.  On  Sunday 
morning,  while  you  and  all  tine  town  are  go- 
ing to  "the  Center"  to  church,  as  I  go  to 
the  school  house  to  preach,  I  hear  the  sharp 
report  of  the  rifle,  and  I  see  many  strolling 
by  the  river  with  guin  or  fishing  rod,  and 
others  indolently  sitting  on  a  log  or  stump, 
puffing  tobacco  smoke  from  their  clay  or  corn 
cob  pipe. 

Have  1  told  you  of  'all  the  offices  I  fill  in 
Riverton?  I  have  as  many  titles  as  the  Duke 
of  Bedford.  Some  call  me  "the  preacher"  or 
"that  preacher;"  some,  a  little  more  defer- 
ential, term  me  "the  minister."  Good  Mrs. 
Drake,  or  Mrs.  Tupper,  say  "our  minister." 
I  am  told  that  some  call  me  "the  boy  preach- 
er." On  the  other  hand  some  call  me  "elder" 
though  just  Why  I  can  not  say.  One  man 
whom  I  frequently  meet,  accosts  me  as  "par- 
son/' and  the  old  Frenchman,  Dure,  styles  me 
"tihe  priest."  But  if  they  will  only  give  me 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


63 


a  hearing,  they  may  call  me  as  they  please. 

One  office  which  by  common  consent  seems 
to  fall  to  me  is  that  of  church  janitor.  On 
Sunday  it  is  my  fortune  to  carry  the  key  of 
knowledge,  and  to  unlock  the  school  house. 
Then  I  light  the  fire,  and  remember  that 
John  Foster  says  that  "genius  is  the  capacity 
to  light  one's  own  fire."  Then,  too,  I  am  "the 
sexton  that  tolls  the  bell."  Thanks  to  Gen- 
eral Tupper,  we  have  a  pretty  good  school 
house  bell. 

But  the  office  which  I  assume  with  great- 
est fear  and  trembling  is  that  of  chorister. 
You  will  laugh,  but  the  other  day  I  was 
selected  to  "pitch  the  tune"  at  a  funeral.  So 
I  started  China,  the  only  funeral  tune  I  know, 
and  you  will  siay  that  I  do  not  know  that. 
What  will  you  'say  then,  when  I  tell  you  that 
I  receive  'high  compliments  for  my  musical 
ability?  At  divine  service  I  can  discover  but 
one  hymn  book,  and  that  is  my  own.  So  I 
go  at*  it  "Western  fashion  and  "line  out." 
Thanks  to  you,  I  learned  at  family  prayers 
to  sing  several  hymns,  and  I  sing  "Hebron 
and  Greenville"  and  "Rock  of  Ages."  Then 
I  vary  the  next  service  by  reversing  the  order 
of  tunes.  At  first  it  was  a  solo,  or  at  most  a 
duet.  This  lining  out  process  bothers  me, 
and  'Several  times  I  should  have  been  un- 
horsed completely  if  it  had  mot  been  for 
Mother  Smile,  whose  piping  treble  came  just 
in  time  to  save  me  from  pitching  pell  mell 
into  the  ditch.  These  things  do  not  always 


64 


THE  HIVKRTON  MINISTER. 


conduce  to  increase  my  devotional  feeling. 
Nevertheless,  a  little  singing  does  gratify  the 
congregation  and  make  it  seem  more  church 
like.  Besides,  of  late  I  have  fallen  upon 
better  times,  for  the  school  teacher,  Miss 
Emily  Sherburne,  a  niece  of  Gen.  Tupper,  has 
come  to  my  relief,  and  by  a  little  previous 
consultation  and  concert  of  action  in  select- 
ing the  hymns,  she  is  able  to  lead  the  singing 
quite  well.  Once  in  a  while  Mr.  Drake 
attempts  the  bass,and  so  we  are  said  to  have 
very  good  singing. 

By  the  way,  this  Miss  Sherburne  is  a  rare 
person.  General  Tupper  was  the  means  of 
prevailing  upon  her  to  accept  the  position  of 
teacher,  and  fortunately,  he  has  no  sympathy 
with  Mie  common  sentiment  that  almost  any- 
one can  teach  the  primary  classes.  So 
instead  of  having  a  coarse,  masculine  woman 
to  cuff  the  children  around  and  pound  some- 
thing into  them,  we  have  a  true  lady  from 
Old  Dominion,  educated  aind  possessed  of 
that  indescribable  grace  and  finish  of  man- 
ners, which  are  the  charm  of  the  best  families 
of  Virginia. 

But  why  is  it,  pray  tell,  that  I  receive  no 
word  from  Thomas  the  Tutor,  or  Arthur  the 
Sophomore?  Remind  them  that  they  have 
a  forlorn  brother  somewhere  in  the  wilder- 
ness. I  suppose  Arthur  is  engrossed  in  strife 
for  class  honor,  and  Thomas,  is  he  captured 
by  some  modern  Helen  or  Dido?  Does  he 
ever  run  up  to  the  parsonage  at  Ryeburgh? 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER.  §5 

Mother  dear,  write  just  as  often  as  you  can, 
but  when  you  are  too  busy  to  epistleize  me, 
make  Thomas  or  Arthur  your  quill  driverr 
so  that  I  may  hear  the  oftemer. 

Your  always  affectionate  boy, 

JOHN. 

P.  S.  This  morning  I  heard  the  first  bird 
of  Spring!  Hurrah!  I  shed  no  tears  over 
the  dissolution  of  stern  Winter.  "Fly  swiftly 
round  ye  wheels  of  Time,  And  bring  the 
Bummer  day."  J.  Gr. 

The  letter  went  on  its  way  to  Vermont. 
Nearly  a  month  had  gone  by  and  brought  the 
"boys,"  Arthur  and  Thomas,  home  for  the 
Spring  vacation.  Arthur,  although  the  older 
in  years,  was  the  younger  of  the  two  in  col- 
lege advancement,  having  been  delayed  by 
ill  health.  But  not  to  be  daunted  by  any 
difficulty,  he  entered  Freshman  as  Thoma;s 
became  Senior  and  now  was  in  full  Sopho- 
more blossom,  while  Thomas  was  "the  new 
Tutor." 

It  was  one  of  those  first  warm  days  which 
signalize  the  flight  of  obstinate  winter  and 
tell  of  blessings  near.  Thomas,  in  morning 
negligee  was  half  reclining  on  the  old  bench 
under  the  large  cherry  tree,  which  was  send- 
ing out  a  few  ventursome  blossoms,  white 
signals  of  an  army  soon  peacefully  to  open 
its  banners  to  the  sun.  In  his  hand  was  a 
volume  of  poetry,  rm opened,  for  he  seemed 
preoccupied,  carrier!  captive  by  the  scene  be- 


6C 


THE  R1VKRTON  MINISTER. 


fore  him,  and  the  memories,  home  lovea,  and 
days  amd  dreams  of  boyhood,  which  it  precip- 
itated upon  him.  Was  it  not  vacation,  and 
might  he  not  relax  his  grasp,  drop  the  oar, 
and  drift  or  throw  out  the  anchor  wherever 
fancy  and  fond  association  beguiled  him? 
John  seemed  once  more  by  his  side.  Clad  in 
mitten  and  muffler,  they  were  shoveling  snow 
together;  or  they  were  coasting;  or  they  were 
making  their  way  across  the  pasture,  dinner 
basket  in  hand,  to  the  school  house;  they 
were  hauling  anid  chopping  wood;  they  were 
climbing  the  hills  a/nd  gathering  berries  or 
nuts;they  were  improving  a  holiday  in  fishing 
and  bathing;  or  they  were  stretched  on  the 
grass,  planning  and  aspiring,  and  declaring 
what  should  be  their  future;  or  they  were 
tiaking  the  dear  mother  in  the  dusk  of 
evening  for  a  row  on  the  lake,  and  the  moon 
was  lifting  above  the  hill  and  filling  the  hour 
with  sweet  enchantment,  and  they  were  grad- 
ually dropping  into  silenee,while  thought  and 
fancy  kept  time  to  the  silvery  dip  of  the  oars. 

Abruptly  Thomas  was  recalled  from  his 
reverie  by  Arthur's  ringing  voice,  as  ignoring 
gates  and  old  paths,  he  cleared  the  fence  at 
a  bound  and,  exulting  in  freedom  and  hilar- 
ity, landed  in  the  door  way,  shouting, 
"Mother,  a  letter  from  John!" 

The  mother,  in  these  days,  deep  in  no 
reveries,  but  in  the  prosy  problem  of  refitting 
and  renewing  the  wardrobe  of  the  two  colle- 
gians— garments  in  all  stages  of  existence 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


67 


heaped  before  her  for  review — deputized  her 
boys  to  answer  the  welcome  words  from 
John.  Here  are  some  extracts  from  Thomas' 
vacation  letter: 

"My  Dear  Hoosier  Brother: 

Here  we  are  in  this  blessed  harbor  again, 
and  it  seems  as  though  you  must  come  in 
soon.  I  listen,  expecting  your  footstep  on 
the  walk,  or  echoing  on  the  stairs,  or  your 
voice  as  you  rush  in  from  the  woodhouse. 
Here  almost  every  sight  and  sound  is  asso- 
ciated with  you.  Of  you  we  sing,  Quorum 
magna  pars  fm.  You  are  our  good  Aeneas  or 
our  wandering  Ulysses;  or  rather  our  Nestor, 
so  apt  in  counsel. 

How  many  things  I  want  to  discuss  with 
you — projected  plans  concerning  my  future! 
I  am  like  one  suddenly  dropped  down  in  a 
wilderness — a  jungle.  I  must  cut  my  way 
out.  But  which  way  leads  out?  Where  lies 
the  "open?"  Strange  that  when  we  so  yearn 
to  know  which  way  lies  wisdom,there  should 
be  no  answering  voice.  It  is  questioning  the 
Sphinx.  'Dip  into  the  future  far  as  human 
eye  can  see/  and  how  much  darkness  mocks 
the 

'spirit  yearning  in  desire 
To  follow  knowledge,  like  a  sinking  star, 
Beyond  the  utmost  bound  of  human  thought.' 

John,  I  am  hungry  for  the  Great  West. 
Your  descriptions  and  experiences  fascinate 
me,  capture  me.  The  potentialities  of  our 


68 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


vast,  undeveloped  country,  invite,  inspire  and 
amaze  me  as  no  romance  cam  I  hear  the 
mighty  pulse  beat  of  the  millions.  They  are 
crowding  toward  the  golden  fields  of  tl«e  set- 
ting sun.  I  want  to  be  in  the  thick  of  these 
continental  destinies.  John,  would  that  I 
were  standing  by  you  on  the  outpost — free- 
dom's utmost  verge. 

As  tutor,  I  am  often  called  to  do  double 
work;  my  own,  and  also  to  fill  every  chance 
vacancy.  Then,  too,  I  read  law  all  that  I 
can;  sandwich  Blackstone  and  Kent  with 
Ovid  and  Homer,  Livy  and  Xenophom. 
Judge  Parsons  offers  to  share  his  law  office 
with  me  and  holds  out  the  alluring  prospect 
of  a  partnership  at  no  distant  date.  But  I  pant 
to  push  out.  I  want  to  be  at  the  head  of  the 
procession.  I  want  to  be  in  at  the  birth 
of  States  and  Empires.  Juniores  ad  labores. 

Some  of  the  members  of  our  college  Facul- 
ty are  grand  souls.  It  is  a  privilege  to  have 
their  society.  They  are  cast  in  too  large  a 
mould  to  be  mere  routine  and  martinet  drill 
masters.  They  look  before  and  after,  and 
live  in  deductions  which  are  large,  generous, 
cosmical.  Going  in  one  channel  of  instruc- 
tion year  after  year,  there  is  as  you  well  un- 
derstand, John,  great  peril  of  becoming  pro- 
saic, humdrum  and  pointless.  This  one  and 
that  one — who  they  are  you  can  guess  —arc 
mediaeval,  mouldy,  and  mossy.  I  shudder 
at  the  thought  of  fossilizing.  I  could  settle 
down  here  into  a  permanent  professorship; 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


69 


and  some  of  my  colleagues  think  me  odd  and 
unwise  because  I  do  not  seize  the  opportun- 
ity. But  they  work  their  work,  I  mine.  I 
bear  within  me  a  noble  discontent.  I  would 
cut  loose  from  shore  and  turn  my  prow  into 
the  mysteries  which  'gloom  the  dark  broad 
seas/ 

My  dear  brother,  how  different  your  intel- 
lectual pabulum  from  ours.  We  daily,  amid 
the  consecrated  groves  and  shrines  of  the 
Muses,  and  you  amid  the  corporeal,  mundane 
and  pragmatical,  and  hundreds  of  miles  from 
a  book!  Woe  to  him  who  in  your  situation, 
has  mo  mill  and  no  grist  of  his  own!  I  see 
no  evidence  that  your  grain  is  giving  out. 
You  delight  in  thinking  and  can  whet  your 
own  sword  and  temper  your  own  spear.  No 
fear  for  you  in  the  intellectual  lists. 

Here  we  roll  along  the  college  groove  and 
life  is  almost  too  even,  not  to  say  monoto- 
nous. Jjast  week  brought  a  little  variation 
from  the  old  score;  a  party  at  the  President's 
mansion.  It  was  given  by  his  lovely  daught- 
ers in  honor  of  the  Misses  Holdredge,  two 
elegant  ladies  who  are  visiting  them.  By 
the  way,  Marian  was  down  from  Ryeburgh, 
graceful,  self  poised  and  queenly  as  ever. 
Her  repartee  out'sparkles  all.  She  is  the  star 
of  the  mountains.  Nevertheless,  I  must  be 
honest,  old  fellow,  and  say  that  when  at  rest 
and  not  rallied  in  animated  conversation,  she 
appeared  just  a  little  drooping.  Was  it  only 
my  fancy — I  think  not— Jthat  I  detected  a 


7Q  THE  K1VERTON  MINISTER. 

shade  of  sadness  and  disquietude  clouding 
the  sunshine  of  her  features.  Come  sir,  ex- 
plain. Has  that  "first  bird  of  Spring"  whim- 
pered to  her  of  that  paragon  of  women,  Emily 
Sherburne,  with  whom  you  'act  in  concert?* 
Would  she  make  a  good  'fender?'  Look  out! 
Those  Southern  belles,  I  trow,  are  more  fire 
than  fender!  Your  circumstances  are  very 
fortunate  for  cultivating  the  musical  art! 
Hope  you  will  not  be  charmed  into  a  duet 
which  terminates  in  a  long  solo  in  the  minor 
key. 

Your  idiosyncratic  classmate,  Belinav, 
sailed  around  among  the  guests  at  bhe  party  > 
as  flashy  and  Frenchy  as  ever;  but  Marian 
seemed  to  be  the  orb  which,  more  than  any 
other,  governed  his  eccentric  revolutions. 
When  he  and  Marian  confronted,  the  scintil- 
lations of  wit  showered  on  us,  and  'from  peak 
to  peak  leaped  the  live  thunder.' 

But  enough  of  this  world  for  ray  uu worldly 
frat-'r  Let  me  tell  you,  Arthur  is  develop- 
ing superbly;  finest  rhetorician  and  bellw 
letters  scholar  in  his  class;  same  say,  in  the 
Institution.  It  is  whispered  thiat  he  is  a 
welcome  caller  on  one  of  the  President's 
daughters.  Mother  is  the  same  '  perfect 
woman,  nobly  planned.'  The  years  approach 
her  very  softly  and  only  give  her,  if  possible, 
a  more  lovely  grace  and  dignity,  and  win- 
someness.  Such  peerless  examples  of  trua? 
man  and  woman  as  our  father  and  mother! 
Legacy  invaluable,  isn't  it?  We  will  simply 


THE  UIVERTON  MINISTER. 


71 


have  to  be  good  and  useful.  And  how  can 
any  but  the  noblest  woman  of  the  race  at  all 
correspond  with  our  ideal? 

Well,  good  bye,  old  Pathfinder.  Open  a 
trail  for  the  over-weighted  millions  into  Lib- 
erty, Truth  and  Love.  And  may  I  soon  be 
there  to  see  it. 

Your  affectionate, 

THOMAS." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

It  was  more  than  twice  a  twelvemonth 
after  Mr.  Goldwin  came  to  River-ton,  that  the 
events  of  this  chapter  occurred.  Succeeding 
a  winter  memorable  for  its  extreme  rigor, 
Spring  seemed  to  revive  not  only  Nature  but 
man.  Riverton  advanced  by  strides  and 
leaps.  The  buzz  of  the  two  saw  mills  and 
the  fires  of  the  brick  and  lime  kilns  hardly 
ceased  night  mor  day.  The  sound  of  the 
hammer  and  the  ding  of  the  trowel  were 
heard  on  every  hand.  Things  assumed  more 
the  air  of  permanence.  More  and  better 
houses  were  appearing.  Riverton  was  in  the 
flood  of  the  tide  of  immigration.  Jack  Bar- 
nett,  with  a  wholesome  faced  Vermont  girl 
as  his  bride,  was  among  the  arrivals.  Stories 
of  the  Eldorado  of  the  West  had  brought  him 
on  as  far  as  Riverton,  and  what  his  own  eyes 
beheld  induced  him  to  settle  there. 

As  has  already  been  intimated,  Gen.  Tup- 
per  could,  with  much  propriety,  be  called  the 
Major  Domo  of  Riverton.  He  had  the  honor 
of  being  the  first  to  represent  his  territorial  ly 
large  district  in  Congress.  His  residence, 
spacious  and  inviting  for  those  early  days, 
stood  back  from  the  road  in  a  stately  wood 
which  had  been  sufficiently  invradied  by  the 
axe  to  give  the  house  a  wide  and  magnificent 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


73 


view  of  the  Poc-anock  river  and  its  tree-clad 
islands. 

It  was  a  summer  evening  and  the  General 
and  his  family  were  gathered  on  the  veran- 
dah. His  family  consisted  of  Mrs.  Tupper, 
matronly  and  a  little  stately,  two  daughters, 
Isabel,  the  eldest,  and  Sibyl,  a  brusque  girl 
of  sixteen  years;  two  sons,  George,  two  years 
older  than  Sibyl,  John  four  years  younger; 
and  the  General's  niece  and  general  favorite, 
Miss  Emily  Sherburne.  A  special  zest  at- 
tended this  informal  family  convention,  from 
the  fact  that  the  General  had  that  day 
returned  from  the  State  Whig  Convention 
held  at  Indianapolis;  he  having  had  the 
honor  of  presiding  over  the  sessions  of  that 
body. 

The  brightness  lingered  on  the  Western 
sky.  An  atmosphere  of  rest  and  caressing 
endearment  settled  with  the  shadows  and 
starlight  around  the  family  circle.  Supreme 
hour  of  the  day,  and  made  doubly  so  now 
by  Gen.  Tupper's  recent  absence.  He  was  nev- 
er happiest — never  himself  in  totality,except 
in  the  unreserve  and  abandon  of  his  home.  In 
gown  and  slippers  he  settled  into  his  easy 
chair  on  the  verandah,  Isabel  beside  him, 
resting  her  hand  on  his  arm;  Sibyl  on  the 
ottoman  at  his  feet;  John  with  his  head  in 
his  mother's  lap  and  George  and  Miss  Emily 
sitting  on  the  steps. 

Gen.  Tupper  was  commenting  on  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  Convention,  introducing  and 


74 


THE   K1VKUTOX   MINISTER. 


shewdly  characterizing  the  prominent  actors, 
and  marching  them  across  the  stage,  to  the 
delight  of  the  little  group,  when  the  young 
ladies  caught  glimpses  of  the  tall  form 
of  Mr.  Pierpont,  the  popular  young  attor- 
ney, coming  up  the  winding  walk.  Begging 
not  to  disturb  a  scene  so  idy'lie,  at  the  earn- 
est protestations  of  half  a  dozen  vnh-rs  that 
he  was  most  welcome,  a  fact  well  attested  by 
the  heightened  color  in  the  faces  of  Isabel 
and  Emily— he  dropped  down  upon  the  steps 
beside  George  and  Miss  Sherburne.  Young 
Pierpont,  affable,  diligent  and  devoted  to  his 
profession,  was  obtaining  about  all  the  legal 
business  which  youthful  River  ton  afforded. 
His  calls  at  the  Tuppers'  had  been  somewhat 
frequent  of  late,  and  gave  mutual  pleasure. 

"Now,  father,  do  tell  me,"  said  Isabel,  "was 
my  special  friend,  'the  gentleman  from 
Bo  one,'  at  the  Convention?" 

"Indeed  he  was,and  he  got  in  his  old  speech 
about  the  'Great  West,'  but  this  time  he  had 
put  on  a  portico  or  steeple." 

"And  lightning  rod,  father?"  inquired 
George. 

"Yes,  indeed,  lightning  rod  and  weather 
vane.  The  gentleman  from  Boone  never  does 
anything  by  halves." 

"American  eagle  on  the  tip  of  the  rod,  I 
suppose,"  said  Pierpont. 

"No,not  exactly,"  said  the  General,  "he  had 
the  'bird'  with  one  foot  on  the  Alleghanies 
and  one  on  the  Rockies,  and  dipping  his  tail 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  75. 

in  Lake  Superior  and  his  proud  beak  in  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico.  WTe  had  the  usual  variety. 
There  was  the  'Pomatum'  chiap  from  Posey 
county,  slick,  sweet-scented,  freshly  groomed, 
every  hair  in  its  place.  He  kept  at  least  one 
eye  on  the  gallery  and  went  out  of  his  way  a 
dozen  times  to  flatter  the  ladies.  And  there 
was  the  tragico-eomico  youth,  him  of  the 
start  theatric,  eyes  'in  a  fine  frenzy  rolling,' 
who  shook  his  raven  locks,  got  in  something 
from  Macbeth,  whispered,  and  the  next  word 
threw  his  voice  to  the  third  heaven." 

"Such  fellows  will  buzz  around  a  conven- 
tion like  moths  around  a  candle,"  said  Pier- 
pont. 

"Get  their  wings  singed  sometimes,  too; 
don't  they,  Uncle?"  said  Emily. 

"Indeed  they  do,  Emily.  Still,  don't  under- 
stand me  to  say  that  these  'small  insects' 
constituted  the  convention.  Not  at  all. 
Flies  and  mosquitoes  don't  make  a  world. 
The  plain,  sensible  citizen  was  there,  and  in 
force  too.  When  all  is  said,  these  shallow 
pates  don't  make  so  very  much  of  a  show; 
sometimes  are  allowed  to  fill  a  gap;  kill 
time  while  the  committees  are  out.  When 
they  gained  the  floor  the  benches  would 
empty;  delegates  would  go  out,  some  to 
liquor  up  and  some  to  do  lobby  work.  Squire 
Service  and  I  took  turns  in  calling  the  boys 
to  order,  just  as  they  got  their  wings  spread; 
not  talking  to  the  question,  etc.  The  old 
Squire — he's  one  of  the  solid  ones.  No  fuss 


jg  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

and  feathers  about  him.  When  he  began  to 
run  his  hand  through  his  hair  and  point  that 
index  finger  at  us,  we  listened. 

General  Tupper  was  always  observing  and 
much  given  to  generalizing  from  what  he 
observed;  and  the  proceedings  at  the  conven- 
tion had  thrown  him  into  a  moralizing  mood. 
Said  he,  "As  I  sat  there,  ostensibly  listening 
to  the  speeches — largely  the  old  stuff — which 
simply  meant,  'I'm  your  man  to  serve  the 
party  and  serve  the  country,  just  nominate 
me,  vote  for  me,'  and  as  I  studied  faces  and 
actions  and  saw  all  that  was  behind  the 
scenes,  I  could'nt  help  echoing  Solomon  a 
little  and  inwardly  exclaiming,  'Vanity  of 
vanities !'  " 

"Now,  Uncle,  that  is  too  gloomy — a  verita- 
ble chapter  in  Lamentations!  Don't  you  think 
so,  Mr.  Pierpont?"  said  Emily. 

"Yes,"  replied  Pierpont,  "I  submit  that  he 
is  too  lugubrious.  Let  there  be  light  and 
then  trust  the  sober  second  thought  of  the 
people.  There's  sublimity  in  the  voice  of  the 
people.  In  any  dire  emergency  their  might 
is  wholesome." 

"O,  I  understand  that,"  interposed  the 
General,  "but  this  swell  and  strut  of  the 
Lilliputians  across  the  political  boards;  this 
lording  and  swelling;  this  jobbing  and  lick 
spittling — supreme  selfishness — and  all  in 
the  name  of  the  dear  people!" 


"Husband,  I  guess  the  trouble  is,  you're 
not  a  politician,"  said  Mrs.  Tupper. 

"No,  in  its  common  groveling  signification, 
I  Burely  am  not,  and  hope  I  may  never 
become  a  politician." 

"Nevertheless,  Uncle,"  said  Emily,  "give 
as  free  speech,  free  press,  free  discussion; 
that's  the  palladium  of  our  liberties,  as  the 
stump  speakers  all  say." 

"That's  our  safety  valve,"  added  Isabel. 

"Keep  the  windows  open  and  the  air  stir- 
ring in  Uncle  Sam's  house,"  chimed  in  Mrs. 
Tupper.  "That  will  keep  it  wholesome." 

"There,  General,"  said  the  lawyer,  "the 
ladies  are  against  you;  better  gracefully 
surrender." 

"Yes,  Papa,"  said  Sibyl,  "for  cousin  Emily 
never'll  give  up." 

"But,  seriously,"  said  Pierpont,  "was  it 
the  State  Convention,  or  the  bad  water  and 
vile  Johnny  Cake  you  swallowed  at  Indian- 
apolis to  which  we  are  indebted  for  this 
diatribe?" 

The  President  of  the  Whig  Convention 
laughed  at  this  and  added,  "Our  bill  of  fare 
was  very  low,  except  in  price,  and  our  beds 
like  corduroy." 

"Count  only  the  bright  days,"  counseled 
cheery  Mrs.  Tupper. 

"Ho!  Ho!  Mother  Sunlight!  Good  rule,  I'll 
admit,"  said  her  husband. 

At  that  moment  John  said  in  a  loud  whis- 
per, "Look,  cousin  Emily,  there's  Mr.  Gold- 


TJTg  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

win."  But  Isabel  had  already  discovered 
him  and  advanced  to  meet  him. 

"Welcome,  a  thousand  welcomes,  Mr. 
Goldwin,"  said  the  General,  "sit  down  by  me. 
I  bespeak  your  assistance,  for  I  am  much 
beset.  All  are  against  me." 

"No,"  said  Isabel,  "its  the  blue  devils  that 
have  beset  Papa.  Do  please,  Mr.  Goldwin, 
charm  them  away." 

"O,  height  of  presumption,"  he  replied,  "for 
me  to  attempt  when  you  ladies  have  been 
baffled.  Must  I  prove  it  true  that  'Fools  rush 
in  where  angels,  etc?' " 

"But,  General  Tupper,  let  me  ask,"  said 
Pierpont,  "are  we  to  conclude  that  you 
regard  the  late  convention  as  a  dismal 
failure?" 

"O,  no;  by  no  means,"  was  the  quick  reply. 
"It  was  not  disappointing,  except  to  the 
unsuccessful  office  seekers,  and  we  need  shed 
no  tears  over  them."  Then  turning  to  the 
minister,  he  explained,  "I  was  about  deliver- 
ing a  homily  suggested  by  my  experience  in 
political  life,  when  this  assembly  took  up 
some  'aside'  and  quite  swept  me  aside." 

"Good!  I  am  glad  that  you  believe  in 
preaching  from  experience,"  said  Mr.  Gold- 
win,  "and  I  am  sure  you  are  entitled  to  the 
floor." 

"Very  well,"  continued  the  General,  "now 
I  rise  to  make  an  explanation." 

"Explanations  are  always  in  order,"  said 
Pierpont. 

"This  convention,"  pursued   the    General, 


THK    UIVKKTO.N    MIXISTICK. 


79 


"only  set  me  to  realising  afresh  ho\v  we 
creatures  of  the  hour  exuberate  the  small 
and  minify  the  great." 

"For  instance,  Papa/'  siaid  thoughtful  Isa- 
bel. 

"For  instance,  so  many  talk  of  General 
Jackson  as  if  the  heavens  hung  on  his  nod; 
or  of  Henry  Clay  as  though  he  carried  the 
United  States  in  his  pockets.-' 

"Like  what  was  said  of  Caihouu,"  remarked 
G>oldwin,  "that  when  he  took  snuff  all  South 
Carolina  sneezed." 

"That's  it,  exactly,"  said  General  Tupper. 
"Why  give  Jiackson'vs  bank  phobia  all  the 
importance  it  deserves;  last  winter's  almost 
forgotten  snow  bank  had  infinitely  more 
effect  on  the  country." 

"Papa,"  said  Isabel,  "you  remind  me  of  a 
very  impressive  picture  Mr.  Goldwin  gave  us 
last  Sunday  in  his  sermon  on  Providence." 

"Do  I?     What  was  it  daughter?" 

"He  showed  us  Napolean  riding  at  the 
head  of  that  choice  army,  half  a  million 
strong,  against  Russia,  and  Ms  face  flushed 
with  assured  victory,  when  he  saw  a  snow 
flake  fall  on  the  flowing  mane  of  his  charger. 
The  Cossacks  could  not  rout  that  grand  army, 
but  the  snow  flakes  could." 

"Thank  you,  Miss  Isabel,"  said  Goldwin, 
"I  am  sure  of  at  least  one  good  listener,  when 
you  are  at  church." 

"That  you  are,"  said  the  father,  and  then 
proceeded,  "if,  we  the  people,  are  finially 


80 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


routed  it  will  be  because  we,  like  Napolean,, 
forget  to  reckon  in  the  Almighty.'" 

"So  you  see  a  snow  flake,  do  you  Papa?" 
asked  Isabel. 

"My  daughter,  I  do  see  <a  storm  coming." 

"From  what  direction?"  queried  the  weatk- 
er  prophet,  George. 

^O,  it's  in  the  air,  its  everywhere,"  he 
replied,  "but  it  started  in  the  South." 

"There  it  is,  Uncle;  after  your  old  bugbear, 
the  slave?"  said  Emily  as  she  uneasilj 
changed  her  posture.  "You  people  of  the 
North  never  will" — 

"Now,  my  little  Emily,"  interposed  the 
Uncle,  "I  know  it  stirs  your  Virginia  blood, 
but  it's  a  fact,  the  slave  is  up.  He's  like 
cork,  bobs  up  in  our  courts  and  platforms, 
and  Congresses" — 

"And  churches,  too,"  chimed  in  Goldwin. 

"Sure  enough,"  said  the  General;  "fact  is, 
the  African  is  bound  to  trouble  us  until  we 
cease  troubling  him." 

"True,"  interposed  Pierpont,  "but  how 
about  the  Missouri  compromise,  that  thus  far 
and  no  farther;  that  eternal  settlement?" 

"O,  the  slave  owner  never  meant  that 
Should  be  more  than  a  temporary  stay  of 
proceedings,"  answerd  the  General. 

These  words  struck  Emily  as  fire  does 
tinder.  Her  cheek  reddened  and  her  eyes 
flashed.  Goldwin  and  Pierpont  saw  the 
active  volcano  and  inwardly  pondered. 

"Uncle,  my  dear  Uncle!"  she  exclaimed,. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  g^ 

"you  grossly  misrepresent  my  own  loyal 
South;  indeed,  indeed  you  do.  I  can  not  lis- 
ten to  such  imputations." 

"Well,  well  Emily,"  said  the  General,  "I 
never  meant  to  kindle  the  Southern  fire  on 
my  own  hearth.  The  colored  man  has 
bobbed  up  here,  hasn't  he!  But  now,I  haven't 
listened  to  Southern  clans  for  nothing." 

"Perhaps  Jefferson  saw  the  storm,  too,  "said 
Goldwin,  "when  'he  said,  'I  tremble  for  my 
country  when  I  remember  that  God  is  just,' ' 

"Well/Mother  of  Pearl,'  "  said  the  General, 
rising  and  turning  to  Mrs.  Tupper,  "I  don't 
know  how  it  is  with  you,  but  I'm  tired;  sup- 
pose we  withdraw  and  consign  these  young 
people  to  their  owm  devices?" 

In  the  seclusion  of  their  own  apartments, 
Mrs.  Tupper,  mother  like,  forecasting  events, 
said  half  aloud  and  as  if  soliloquizing,  "Yes, 
Pierpont  and  Emily,  Mr.  Goldwin  and 
Isabel." 

"What's  that,  mother?  What's  that?" 
exclaimed  the  General,  affecting  a  whisper 
and  imitating  her  suppressed  voice.  "Why 
not  reverse  that?  Why  not  Goldwin  and 
Emily,  Pierpont  and  Isabel?  One  is  just  as 
likely  as  the  other?" 

"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Tupper,  still  absorbed  in 
her  own  prophecies,  "all  the  tongues  in  Riv- 
erton  will  be  wagging." 

"Fiddle  'sticks!  Let  them  wag,"  said  the 
husband. 


82 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


"Couldn't  be  better  mated,"  said  Mrs.  Tup- 
per,  continuing  her  monologue. 

"Building  air  castles  again,  ar'n't  you, 
mother  dear.  What  a  sky  full  you'll  have 
with  getting  your  four  children  married  off." 

"Ah!  Mr.  Goldwin;  look  out  for  jealous 
mothers  in  the  camp,"  continued  the  same 
low  prophetic  voice. 

"O,  bosh!"  exclaimed  the  father,  "crossing 
imaginary  bridges!  Godwin,  rest  assured, 
is  no  novice.  Besides,!  don't  believe  he  cares 
for  our  girls  beyond  a  pleasant  acquaint- 
ance," and  with  that,  the  wears7  man  was 
soon  asleep. 

Meanwhile  the  young  people,  left  to  their 
own  devices,  started  for  a  stroll  along  the 
river  to  see  the  moon  rise.  Birds,  however, 
promiscously  grouped,  by  unerring  instinct, 
single  out  their  mates1.  Soon  it  was  Emily 
and  Pierpont  and  Isabel  and  Goldwin;  while 
George  and  Sibyl  soon  followed  with  light 
wraps  for  the  ladies. 

Sibyl,  tossing  back  her  beautiful  head 
piece  and  turning  up  her  bewitching  lip  in 
feigned  disgust,  declared  in  an  undertone  to 
George,  "There's  never  a  ghost  of*  a  chance 
for  little  me,  when  Emily  and  Isabel  are 
around." 

"Come,. come  now,  Miss  Disgruntle!  Just 
drop  all  this  and  be  my  escort,and  do  yourself 
proud,"  interposed  George,  as  he  playfully 
took  her  arm.  Then  in  a  more  serious  tone: 
"Sibyl,  go  many  a  league  and  you'll  not  see 


THE  BIVBRTON  MINISTER.  gg 

two  such  fine  couples  as  those  just  ahead  of 
us.  I  just  like  to  look  at  them." 

"O,"  added  Sibyl  quickly  and  not  to  be 
outdone  in  admiration  of  the  pairs,  "I'll  never 
dispute  that;  they  are  just  splendid." 

"By  the  bye,  how  are  you  and  Mr.  Goldwin 
getting  on  in  Latin?"  asked  George. 

"O,  tip-top!  Mr.  Goldwin  is  grand.  I  do 
believe  I  shall  learn  to  love  Latin,"said  Sibyl. 
I  was  dreadfully  afraid  he'd  think  me  awfully 
dull,  but  Mama  says  that  Mr.  Goldwiu 
declared  the  other  day  that  I  would  make 
a  fine  Latin  scholar.  O,  but  didn't  that  do 
me  good!" 

"Does  he  weave  in  a  lecture  occasionally; 
tell  you  how  to  be  good  -and  all  that?"  asked 
George,  with  a  shrewd,  quizical  look. 

"Not  a  bit  of  it,"  replied  Sibyl.  "I'm 
awfully  afraid  he  will  talk  good  and  pious  to 
me.  But,  if  he  did  but  know  it,  he  does  it 
beautifully  every  day  without  saying  a 
word." 

"Mathematics  always  in  preference  to 
Latin  for  me,"  said  George,  "How  goes  your 
arithmetic?" 

"O,  Emily  pushes  me  on  so  fast  in  that,and 
then  every  few  days  she  takes  me  into  the 
woods  and  shows  me  so  many  new  things 
about  the  plants  and  bugs  and  birds.  Its 
wonderful,  George,  how  many  things  sihe  sees 
in  some  little  flower  or  even  a.  feather.  The 
other  day  we  were  over  at  the  swamp  and  she 
showed  me  six  varieties  of  willows,  where  my 


§4  THE  RIVBBTON  MINISTER. 

stupid  eyes  had  seen  but  one.  I'm  getting 
such  an  appetite  for  study  that  I  don't  know- 
how  I  can  ever  satisfy  it  in  Riverton.  Dear 
me!  I'm  afraid  I'll  know  as  much  as  Emily 
after  a  while,  and  then  I  s'pose  I'll  have  to 
teach  school  till  I'm  as  old  and  dry  as  that 
dead  log  over  there." 

George,  as  he  looked  into  those  deep,  en- 
trancing eyes,  was  pardonably  sceptical  of 
his  sister's  forecast  of  her  future.  Then  he 
broke  out,  "Sib,  do  you  know  I'm  going  to  be 
a  soldier;  not  one  of  these  common  ones,  but 
a  commander.  The  other  day  I  talked  to 
Mr.  Goldwin  about  going  to  West  Point  and 
he  took  occasion  to  say  what  I  knew  he  had 
been  watching  to  say,  that  he  thought  1 
ought  to  enlist  in  the  Christian  army  first, 
and  I  guess  he  was  about  right,  too.  Mr. 
Goldwin  is  a  man  of  peace,  you  knowr,  but 
then  he  did  promise  to  intercede  with  father 
to  get  me  an  appointment  at  West  Point. 
Not  that  I  am  dying  to  save  my  country  or 
any  other  country,  but  there's  fight  in  me  and 
there's  glory  in  soldiering." 

Sibyl  was  silent  and  when  George  waited 
for  a  response,  she  said,  "O,  George,you  break 
my  heart!" 

Coming  to  a  grassy  level  on  the  river  bank, 
the  party  dropped  down  upon  it.  Mr.  Pier- 
pont,  with  his  long  legis  dangling  over  the 
bank,  insisted  that  he  never  before  had 
realized  the  fascination  of  the  scenery. 
Making  due  allowance  for  his  open  vision  of 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


85 


the  fascination  at  this  blissful  moment,  the 
surroundings  certainly  were  sufficiently  cap- 
tivating. The  moon  was  beginning  to  sift 
its  light  through  the  tree  tops.  The  Poca- 
nock  was  swollen  by  the  late  rains  much  be- 
yond its  accustomed  volume.  Tall  syca- 
mores were  dipping  their  branches  to  the 
water's  edge,  and  wild  blossoms  and  herbs 
and  shrubs  were  lading  the  night  with  per- 
fume. All  felt  the  transport  of  the  hour. 
Emily  never  seemed  more  bewitching  and 
Pierpont  was  riding  on  seas  of  enchantment. 
Song  followed  'song.  Carols  and  serenades 
full  of  moonlight  and  memory  of  the  tender 
passion,  echoed  from  heart  and  voice. 

_As  they  were  singing,  two  whisky-crazed 
Indians,  in  a  canoe,  paddled  swiftly  by,  yel- 
ling and  gesticulating  fiercely — the  one  dis- 
illusionizing discord.  Swiftly  they  passed 
from  view  behind  the  foliage  which  covered 
the  river  banks,  leaving  but  a  momentary 
ripple,  like  their  race,  vanishing  from  sight 
and  memory.  Emily  and  Sibyl  were  singing, 
"Flow  Gently  Sweet  Afton,"  when  there  was 
a  twang  of  a  bow  string  and  a  whirr  through 
the  leaves,  and  an  arrow  flew  just  in  front 
of  Emily  and  struck  Pierpont  deep  in  the 
thigh.  "My  God!"  he  cried,  "am  I  shot?" 
At  the  same  instant,  an  Indian  howl  on  the 
river  told  plainly  whence  the  shot  had  come. 
Immediately  all  sprung  to  their  feet — all 
except  Pierpont  who  attempted  to  rise  but 
fell  back  with  a  groan.  Goldwiu  leaped  to 


86 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


his  side,  and  by  his  presence  of  mind,  restored 
the  others  to  some  degree  of  self-possession, 
•as  he  resolutely  drew  out  the  arrow,al  though 
he  necessarily  caused  Pierpont  to  shriek  with 
agony,  and  at  once  proceeded  to  bandage  the 
ugly  wound  as  far  as  he  could  with  Emily's 
white  shawl.  Then  bidding  the  ladies  hasten 
to  the  house  'and  dispatch  a  messenger  with 
all  srpeed  for  Dr.  Bancrof t,he  and  George  con- 
verted themselves  into  crutches  and  followed 
with  the  wounded  man  between  them,  half 
hobbling  and  half  carried.  When  at  last 
they  laid  Pierpont  upon  a  couch  in  the  east 
room  at  the  Tupper's,  pale  and  weak  from 
over  exertion  and  loss  of  blood,  he  fainted. 
The  Doctor,  soon  at  hand,  carefully  examined 
the  wound  and  dressed  it. 

Meanwhile  the  young  ladies  in  the  sitting 
room  walked  the  floor  in  agony  of  suspense. 
The  moments  seemed  hours.  At  last  the  Doc- 
tor appeared.  "Ugly  flesh  wound,"  said  he; 
"may  be  some  abrasion  of  the  bone,but  unless 
blood  poison  sets  in,  give  him.  time,  and  he 
will  come  out  'all  right." 

"Thank  God,"  exclaimed  Emily,  and  sank 
back  exhausted  into  a  chair. 

"What  a  merciful  Providence  that  it  is  no 
worse,"  said  Isabel,  as  she  met  the  Doctor's 
keen,  but  kind,  eyes  fastened  intently  upon 
her. 

"Now,  ladies,"  said  he,  "to  your  rooms  at 
once.  The  patient  is  in  good  hands;  Mr. 
Goldwin  insists  upon  staying  beside  him  till 


THE  RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


87 


morning.  Quiet  and  sleep  are  Mr.  Pierpont's 
best  nurses.  Mr.  Goldwin  suggests  Mr.  Bar- 
nett,  who  he  says  is  a  born  nurse,  and  I  will 
send  him  around  by  daylight.  Now  off!  Off!" 
said  the,  at  the  same  time  lifting  his  arms  as 
though  discharging  a  flock  of  birds.  "Off  to 
your  nests,"and  off  the  ladies  went  smiling  in 
spite  of  their  forebodings,  and  the  abrupt 
Dr.  Bancroft,  as  usual,  had  his  own  way. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  name  inscribed  on  the  weather-worn 
tavern  sign  of  Riverton  was  N.  D.  Grande, 
which,  expressed  in  its  entirety,  was  Nicholas 
Demmy  Grande.  The  bearer  of  this  name, 
whom  as  landlord  we  have  already  casually 
met,  was  tall,  red-faced,  scaly  nosed,  head  in- 
clined to  baldness,  and  hair,  though  daily 
trained  to  conceal  that  baldness,  daily  stand- 
ing in  revolt  against  that  concealment;  eyes 
a  dubious  gray  that  easily  took  on  any  mean- 
ing to  suit  the  color  of  the  times;  eyes  and 
face  that  were  not  a  reflection  of  personality, 
but  of  the  people  around  him.  His  nostrils 
had  a  dry  vacuous  and  distended  appearance, 
which  was  said  to  come  of  inveterate  snuff 
taking,  and  stunning  volleys  accompanied 
the  flourish  of  his  red  silk  handkerchief. 
Nicholas  D.  Grande,  or  N.  D.  Grande,  for  he 
disliked,  and  as  far  as  posible,  suppressed  the 
Nicholas,  was  an  undeniable  example  of  au- 
dacious claims  and  of  slender  capital.  His 
pretensions  were  as  swelling  as  his  resources 
were  scant.  He  was  always  intriguing  in 
politics,  always  soliciting  of  the  dear  people 
some  office,  always  lonely  unless  training 
with  the  crowd,  always  pressing  to  the  front, 
and,  generally,  only  to  be  ordered  to  the  rear. 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER.  gg 

Often  he  borrowed  the  minister's  pony  for 
(his  electioneering  trips.  When  a  boy  in  Ken- 
tucky, he  had  chanced  to  hear  Henry  Clay 
speak — a  fact  of  which  he  was  always  telling. 
When  anyone  in  the  pulpit,  on  the  stump,  or 
at  the  bar,  furnished  a  pleasing  example  of 
oratory,  then  N.  D.  was  always  'strikingly 
reminded  of  Henry  Clay/  Ool.  Grande,  for 
such  was  the  handle  attached  to  his  name, 
no  one  new  exactly  how  or  why,  wore  fine 
clothes  for  a  pioneer,  lost  no  opportunity  to 
sample  liquors,  and  sported  a  style  which  his 
means  could  ill  support.  Rumor  intimated 
that,  though  he  posed  in  daylight  as  an  exem- 
plar of  good  morals,  his  associations  and  con- 
nections were  sometimes  quite  shady. 

Mrs.  Ool.  Grande,  tall  and  starchy,  head 
hijrh,  had  aspirations  to  be  the  leader  in  the 
developing  society  of  Riverton.  To  outshine 
by  her  gowns,  and,  upon  occasions,  with  her 
cuisine,  was  her  summit  and  crown.  She 
was  a  regular  attendant  upon  divine  service: 
generally  arrived  a  little  late,  and  marched 
to  a  front  seat  with  enough  state  to  mark  a 
dignitary.  The  Colonel  graced  the  church 
services  upon  large  occasions.  Mrs.  Grande 
had  it  as  one  of  her  laws,  "always  be  loyal 
to  your  minister."  Moreover,  beside  defer- 
ence to  the  clergy  from  principle,  she  had 
very  great  personal  esteem  for  Mr.  Gold  win. 
While  much  of  this  world  clung  to  her  gar- 
ments, she  was  probably  no  more  egoistic 
than  many  others  w'ho  were  more  skilled  in 
donning  the  other-world  livery. 


90  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

Then  there  was  the  Dale  family  that  we 
have  met  before — one  of  the  first  to  arrive  in 
Riverton.  Socrates  Dale  differed  from  some 
of  his  neighbors,  in  that  he  was  always 
happy;  and  yet  this  is  not  strange,  for  he  was 
always  about  to  become  rich;  always  had 
some  project  or  scheme  which  was  about  to 
be  the  lucky  hit.  No  matter  what  his  object- 
ive world  was,  subjectively,  he  was  on  the 
hill  tops  of  delight.  He  could  with  the  sub- 
limest  indifference,  pass  by  innumerable  col- 
lapsed balloons,  and  devote  himself  supreme- 
ly to  constructing  another  air  ship,  which, 
in  turn,  landed  him  in  the  mire.  For 
instance,  he  spent  much  time  and  what 
money  was  at  hand,  inventing  a  stump  jerker, 
but  the  cumbrous  affair  cost  too  much  per 
jerk.  He  puzzled  his  brain,  too,  over  the 
idea  of  perpetual  motion,  with  a  view  to 
applying  it  to  modes  of  transit.  How  much 
others  profited  by  the  suggestion  in  his  ven- 
tures, it  would  be  impossible  to  say,  but  they 
profited  Mm  nothing.  Careless  as  the  earlier 
Socrates  about  his  personal  appearance,  he 
was  as  fond  as  Socrates  of  quizzing  and  phil- 
osophizing with  his  neighbors.  He  always 
had  time  to  stop  and  tell  a  story,  or  discuss 
the  latest  turn  in  politics;  could  drop  his 
scythe  in  the  meadow  and  leave  his  grass 
unraked  and  uncocked  in  haying  time,  and  go 
a  fishing.  Honest,  easy  jogging,  good 
natured  Uncle  Sk>c!  His  religion,  like  his 
property,  so  far  as  he  had  any,  was  in  his 
wife's  name. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


91 


Mrs.  Dale,  as  we  have  previously  said,  was, 
in  many  respects,  a  worthy  example  of  a 
pioneer  woman.  People  often  wondered  how 
such  a  model  of  enterprise  and  thrift  came  to 
mate  herself  with  Boc.  Dale.  Their  children 
did  not  exhaust  the  Scripture  names,  but,  as 
Uncle  Soc.  said,  "they  came  mighty  close 
onto  it."  "Not  much  Scripture  to  them 
except  the  name,"  said  he,  "nevertheless, 
there's  this  good  to  be  said  of  them,  all  but 
two  or  three  take  after  their  mother." 

Not  only  weeds  but  also  flowers  will  per- 
sist in  growing  along  the  dusty  and  well 
trodden  roadside.  The  Drake  family  knew 
toil  and  exposure.  And  yet,  sometimes,  a 
choice  flower  lifts  its  modest  cup  aimid  net- 
tles and  dog  fennel.  Rachel,  the  oldest 
daughter  of  this  household,  had  soft,  wistful 
eyes,  and  sometimes  that  far  away  look, 
which  betokened  that  she  found  worlds  of 
higher  thought  and  emotion  hard  by  the 
humdrum  present.  The  life  which  is  dull 
prose  to  some,  is  unwritten  poetry  to  others. 
Rachel  read  and  reread  everything  she  could 
lay  hold  of,  which  is  not  saying  very  much, 
and  had  her  dreams,  and  fancies,  and  phil- 
osophizings,  despite  her  hard  hands,  her  plain 
wardrobe  and  slender  purse. 

Her  father,  Sam  Drake,  whom  we  early 
met,  was  quite  a  philosophizer  in  his  way- 
mused  on  many  a  problem  as  he  drove  his 
team  afield,  or  as  he  sat  and  smoked.  Home- 
spun philosophy  wears  well,  and  the  Platos 


92 


THE  RFVERTON  MINISTER. 


and  Aristotles  are  not  the  only  thinkers,  nor 
is  truth  sought  and  found  only  in  the  classic 
"groves  of  the  Academy." 

Mrs.  Drake's  lineage — she  was  a  Daven- 
ant — ran  back  through  Kentucky  to  the  Oar- 
olinas,  and  thence  across  the  waves,  to  a 
sweet  and  cultivated  home  among  the  Huge- 
note.  Her  ancestral  thread  was  silken,  and, 
retraced,  led  into  choice  tapestry,  and  a  touch 
of  refinement  and  courtly  breeding  survived 
down  to  Sam  Drake's  home.  There  was 
something  about  that  frontier  fireside  which 
seemed  to  say,  toil  and  terrestial  gain  after 
all  are  not  all;  like  a  perfume  in  the  night 
which  told  of  the  unseen,  dew-besprent,  fruits 
and  flowers. 

An  old  and  well  thumbed  little  volume. 
"The  Lady  of  the  Lake,"  a  battered,  coverless 
copy  of  "Ivanhoe,"  "Pilgrim's  Progress,"  full 
of  direful  cuts  meant  to  be  illustrations,  and 
Weims'  "Life  of  Marion,"  heirlooms  of  two 
generations,  had  accompanied  these  wander- 
ers through  the  defiles  of  the  Blue  TJidge  and 
over  Kentucky  blue  licks,  find  into  Indiana 
forests. 

Jonas  Drake,  a  big  strapping  boy,  wa^as 
yet  lying  fallow.  He  went  to  church  regu- 
larly and  as  regularly  nodded  through  most 
of  the  sermon.  People  thought  his  mind 
never  rose  above  corn  dodger  and  bacon. 
Little  they  knew  of  what  sometimes  ran  in 
his  head. 

And  a  younger  scion  of  the  Drake  family 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


93 


tree  was  seven-year-old  Waxie;  barefooted, 
bare-headed,  except  nature's  'head  dress  of 
tufted  flaxen  curls.  The  terror  of  Sunday 
morning  to  her  was  that  hair  which  must  be 
unsnarled.  The  reconcilement  to  Sunday 
was  her  new  shoes,  which  came  forth  to  shine 
with  every  seventh  sunrise;  and  she  walked 
the  floor  for  an  hour  before  church  time  just 
to  hear  them  squeak.  What  shoes  carried 
more  innocent  pride  down  the  aisle  than 
Waxie's? 

Over  in  the  corner,  in  the  old  battered  and 
scarred  cradle  which  had  come  over  the 
mountains  from  the  Carolinas,  which  had 
nestled  Drakes  back  in  the  mist  of  antiquity, 
which  had  been  broken  and  tinkered  times 
innumerable  and  was  rocking  still — in  that 
cradle  in  the  corner  was  just  the  d'arlingest, 
perf ectest  baby  that  ever  was,  the  very  image 
of  its  father,  and  the  very  picture  of  its 
mother. 

And  does  that  complete  the  list?  Waxie 
will  give  us  no  rest  unless  we  catalogue  the 
great  dog  Mixer,  who  came  into  the  world 
long  before  Waxie,  over  whom  she  had  rolled 
and  turned  somersaults  in  the  grass  many  a 
day;  Mixer,  always  getting  in  the  way,  the 
pest  and  pet  in  the  house,  who,  with  his 
master,  when  both  were  younger,  has  started 
many  a  rabbit  and  treed  many  a  coon,  and 
received  the  blessing  of  many  a  polecat; 
battle-scarred  veteran  that  has  bayed  moons 
without  number  and  hidden  many  a  bone, 


94 


now  a  litle  blase,  and  chiefly  remembered  by 
what  he  has  done;  happy  be  his  dreams  as 
he  stretches  before  the  fire,  and  peaceful  his 
journey  to  the  canine  Sheol. 

There's  another  birthday  sacredly  remem- 
bered in  that  house.  And  there's  another 
date  not  a  birthday;  yes,  a  birthday,  when 
the  blessed  messenger  we  call  Death  came 
and  carried  one  to  the  immortal  home.  So 
many  things  dated  from  the  day  that  "little 
sister  Bessie"  died.  Mr.  Goldwin  so  often  and 
so  closely  communed  with  this  househould 
that  it  seemed  almost  as  though  he 
too  had  known  and  loved  and  lost  this 
little  ministrant  child.  Little  sister, 
always  counted,  always  near.  How  the 
thought  of  her  lingered  about  that  house, 
ami  softened  the  heart  and  the  voice,  and 
disillusionized  the  eyes,  and  anchored  the 
other  world  close  by  this.  The  angel  Death 
had  blessed  that  home. 

Is  it  by  some  subtle  law  of  association  that, 
having  spoken  of  death,  we  proceed  to  speak 
of  the  Doctor?  Not  but  that  Dr.  Bancroft 
was  as  successful  as  is  ever  granted  to  man 
to  be  in  keeping  Death  at  a  distance;  indeed, 
it  was  often  said  that  Death  fought  shy  of 
him.  Lyman  Litchfield  Bancroft  had,  at  this 
time,  been  a  citizen  of  Eiverton  scarcely  u 
year;  and  yet,  educated,  skillful  and  consci- 
entiously devoted  to  his  profession,  he  was 
already  well  known  and  well  employed.  He 
began  life  under  the  shadow  of  the  Berkshire 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


95 


hills.  He  had  married  happily  and  settled 
in  an  eastern  village,  and  for  a  year  had 
known  home  joy  as  unalloyed  as  falls  to  mor- 
tals. Then  death  took  his  all  and  left  him 
disconsolate.  Fleeing  the  scenes  which 
only  fed  his  grief,  he  wandered  well  nigh 
aimlessly  into  the  lone  wilds  of  the  West, 
solitude  his  preferred  companion,  and  at 
length  drew  up  at  Rivertou.  Pleased  with 
the  location  and  promise  of  the  town,  and 
wisely  concluding  to  seek  "surcease  of  sor- 
row" in  actively  pursuing  the  duties  of  his 
profession,  he  opened  there  an  office.  Some- 
what blunt  and  sans  ceremony,but  profound- 
ly honest  and  kindly  of  heart,he  swiftly  se- 
cured confidenceand  friendship.  Nothing  was 
•more  abhorrent  to  him  than  the  palaver  and 
pretense,  which  are  sometimes  the  chief 
reliance  of  aspirants  to  the  healing  art.  He 
was  like  a  big  brother  to  those  who  came 
in  contact  with  him.  Although  not  open  to 
the  charge  of  being  handsome,  he  came  near 
being  so  when  he  smiled,  and  certainly  was 
not  called  'homely.  His  features,  probably, 
could  not  be  termed  classical,  but  they  did 
suggest  benevolence  and  vigor. 

Dr.  Bancroft  had  a  penchant  for  collecting 
samples  of  nature's  handiwork.  His  office 
was  an  omnium  gatherum,  a  curiosity  shop; 
tables  and  shelves  and  books  were  loaded 
with  flora  and  fauna,  fossils,  skulls  and  skel- 
etons of  man  and  beast,  snakes  pickled  in 
alcohol,  papers  and  books.  Among  the  lat- 


gg  THE  BIVERTON  MINISTER. 

ter,  aside  from  medical  treatises,  there  were 
two  volumes  which  bore  evidence  of  frequent 
use,  Shakespeare  and  the  Bible.  "So  many 
books,"  said  the  Doctor,  "are  but  triturations 
of  these.  Why  not  go  to  the  fountain  head?'' 

As  a  physician,  Dr.  Bancroft  was  not  satis- 
fied to  deal  with  symptoms  or  effects  simply, 
but  sought  for  causes;  considered  in  each 
case  temperament,  constitution,  environment 
and  heredity,  and  endeavored  in  arriving  at 
deductions  to  include  all  the  considerations 
and  data,  mental  as  well  as  physical.  People 
said  he  not  only  looked  into  a  case  but  looked 
through  it.  But,  then  as  now,  there  were 
people  enough  who  liked  humbuggery,  and 
in  the  next  block  was  the  office  of  a  man  who 
assumed  to  attach  M.  D.  to  his  name,  and  in 
that  office  all  manner  of  quackery  and  ill 
advised  work  was  carried  on. 

Mr.  Gold  win  and  Dr.  Bancroft  enjoyed  rub- 
bing their  minds  together,  differ  as  they 
might  in  their  opinions.  Pastor  and  physi- 
cian are  by  reason  of  their  callings,  granted 
the  freedom  of  many  homes,  and  are  entrust- 
ed with  the  most  sacred  confidences;  and  Mr. 
Goldwin  was  gratified  to  be  able  to  believe 
that  such  opportunities  for  good  or  ill  fell 
into  the  hands  of  one  who  was  both  conscien- 
tious and  capable.  Both  the  men  held 
uncompromising  convictions  of  rectitude,  and 
of  hostility  to  the  whole  liquor  business. 

Said  the  Doctor,  waxing  warm  on  his 
favorite  topic,  "Mr.  Goldwin,  the  simple  fact 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


97 


is,  we  are  under  law;  this  universe  is  under 
the  reign  of  law.  There  are  my  bird  pets, 
my  rabbits,  my  dog;  they  never  eat  too  much, 
never  expose  themselves  unnecessarily,  wont 
even  smell  of  whiskey  or  tobacco.  I  never 
have  to  doctor  them;  law  abiding,  every  one 
of  them.  Everything  is  law  abiding  until  we 
come  to  man.  He's  a  glutton  and  a  drunk- 
ard and  a  sensualist.  Break  every  statute 
of  nature,  try  to  jump  through  a  stone  wall, 
of  course  get  the  worst  of  it,  and  then  in  his 
extremity,  run  for  the  doctor  to  patch  him 
up!  Nature  is,  indeed,  marvelously  patient 
and  forbearing,  but  beyond  a  certain  point, 
never  -forgives;  simply  lays  on  the  penalty." 

"You're  orthodox  there,  Doctor.  Law  is 
law,  and  penalty  deferred,  is  not,  as  we 
human  fools  so  often  suppose,  penalty 
repealed.  Only  tlr's,  Doctor:  let  us  go  beyond 
nature  and  say  God.  Law  in  nature,  in  man,, 
or  in  the  Bible  is  God  expressing  His  will. 
Doesn't  it  thrill  us,  when  we  really  think  of 
it,  that  every  physical  pain  or  inconvenience 
is  our  Divine  Lawgiver's  voice  to  us,  'Take 
care;  danger;  sto-p;  this  way  lies  penalty?' 
Mount  Sinai  in  every  one  of  us!  Every  cell 
and  tissue  atremble  with  our  Heavenly 
Father's  voice." 

"How  true  that  is,  Mr.  Goldwin!  I'll  think 
of  that.  But  now  let  me  ask,  didn't  you  at 
the  funeral  yesterday  speak  of  the  sudden 
death  of  Matilda  Chase  as  occurring  in  the 
mysterious  Providence  of  God?" 


'98 


THE  RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 


I/octor,  I  think  1  did/' 
"Well,  now,  I  am  inclined  to  question  the 
mysterious  Providence  in  this  case.  Matilda 
Ohase,  under  direction  from  her  mother, 
exposed  herself  unwarrantably,  took  a  heavy 
cold,  and  therefore,  had  lung  fever  and  died. 
From  the  first  it  was  evident  to  me  that  she 
had  gone  beyond  the  point  where  nature 
forgives,  and  that  no  human  means  could 
save  her.  Now  where  is  the  mysterious  Prov- 
idence? The  simple  fact  is  Matilda  violated 
the  law  of  life  and  had  to  take  the  penalty." 

"Very  true,  Doctor,  but  whose  laws?  Who 
made  them?  Did  not  God  know  when  he 
made  those  laws  that  they  would  be  violated 
by  thousands,  and  among  the  number  this 
dear  young  girl?  And  in  this  view  of  the 
case  is  there  not  a  very  strict  sense  in  which 
God  is  active  in  this  and,  indeed,  in  every 
event?" 

"I  see  your  point,  Mr.  Goldwin.  That,  too, 
will  do  to  think  about." 

"Doctor,  if  I  could  not  take  this  view  of 
every  event,  I  should  be  all  at  seas.  God  is 
not  outwitted  by  his  laws.  No  event  is  a  dis- 
covery or  a  surprise  to  him.  Knowing  all, 
absolutely  every  event,  he  wisely  framed  his 
laws." 

The  Doctor  replied  thoughtfully,  "The  dif- 
ference between  us  seems  to  be  that  in  my 
reasoning,  I  have  not  been  in  the  habit  of 
placing  God  and  the  event  so  close  together 
««  you  do." 


THH  RIVBBTON  MINISTER.  gg 

"But,"  said  Mr.  Goldwin,  "there  are  other 
truths  side  by  side  with  these  we  have 
named.  They  go  together,  or  in  pairs,  like 
Drake's  oxen.  God  Sovereign,  man  free; 
there's  a  pair  of  truths.  They  are  in  blessed 
wedlock.  Sheer  nonsense  to  attempt  to  rea- 
son or  to  live  without  accepting  them." 

"Well,  Doctor,"  added  Mr.  Goldwin,  rising 
to  go,  "we  have  run  into  the  mysteries  of 
course;  every  great  truth  takes  us  into 
mystery.  We  little  insects  venture  out  and 
dip  the  tips  of  our  tiny  wings  in  the  illimita- 
ble deep." 

"And,"  retorted  the  Doctor,  "are  glad  to 
return  to  solid  land  again." 

"Now,"  said  the  Minister,  "I  must  go  and 
see  what  can  be  done  for  that  frantic  mother, 
Mrs.  Chase."  He  found  her  raging  and 
storming.  Matilda  was  gone,  and  it  was 
almost  the  first  time  in  the  life  of  that  mother 
that  she  had  not  had  her  own  way.  She  was, 
as  the  neighbors  said,  'a  little  woman  with  a 
tremendously  big  will';  and  with  such  fluen- 
cy and  vigor  did  she  assert  her  will,  that 
every  member  of  her  family  had  long  since 
ceased  to  contend  against  it. 

Mr.  Goldwin  asked  very  tenderly,  in  speak- 
ing of  the  dear  daughter,  "Don't  you  think 
that  your  loving  Heavenly  Father  did  the 
best  he  could  do  for  Matilda  and  for  you  who 
are  so  sorely  bereaved,  when  he  took  your 
dear  girl  to  heaven?"  At  this  Mrs.  Chase 
grew  more  violent  than  ever  and  said  God 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


was  cruel  and  heartless,  a  very  demon;  and 
then  she  rushed  to  her  room  and  locked  the 
door,  and  for  two  days  was  not  seen  by  any 
member  of  her  family.  It  was  in  this  room, 
and  at  this  time  that  the  greatest  battle  of 
her  life  was  fought.  She  at  last  submitted 
her  will  to  God,  and  then  there  came  quiet- 
ness and  peace.  When  she  reappeared  before 
the  family  she  was  a  changed  woman. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

Sam  Drake,  as  his  family  enlarged,  en- 
larged and  improved  his  dwelling.  The  orig- 
inal house  germ,  the  log  cabin,  knew  itself 
no  more.  Built  on  to,  weather  boarded, 
lathed  and  plastered,  and  dressed  over  with 
paint,  cool  in  summer  and  warm  in  winter,  it 
was,  as  the  Riverton  Journal,  a  weekly  paper 
just  gasping  into  a  tentative  life,  expressed 
it,  "the  handsome  and  commodious  residence 
of  Mr.  Samuel  Drake." 

Now,  in  lieu  of  Sam,  it  began  to  be  more 
often,  "Mr.  Drake."  Not  that  he,  with  his 
house,  was  altogether  made  over.  "Advanc- 
ing civilization"  did  rub  off  some  of  the  burrs 
indigenous  to  the  frontier,  but  some  of  them 
adhered  to  him  through  life.  Happy,  indeed, 
shall  we  be  if  nothing  more  deleterious  than 
a  few  burrs  cling  to  us,  tenacious  as 
existence.  The  most  exacting  critic  could 
but  perceive  that  mental  and  moral  gain 
accrued  to  Drake  as  years  accrued;  but,  like 
the  most  of  us,  his  life  smacked  strongly  of 
its  early  surroundings,  as  good  wine  does  of 
its  noble  vintage.  While  no  one  in  Riverton 
was  more  heartily  respected  and  esteemed 
than  was  he,  there  was  at  the  same  time 
something  so  kind  and  human  and  unconven- 


102 


THE  R1VRRTON  MINISTER. 


tional  about  him,  that  to  his  old  Mends  and 
neighbors,  made  ceremony  and  formal  titles 
seem  an  intrusion. 

A  few  survivors  of  the  recently  dense  wood 
stood  around  the  house,  like  protecting 
patriarchs.  Jonas  had  painted  the  front 
fence,  and  Rachel  had  trained  a  few  vines, 
and  Waxie  had  her  flower  bed  to  which  she 
was  always  transferring  wild  plants  and 
mosses  which  she  watered  and  watched  and 
mourned  for  as  they  pined  away  under  cul- 
ture. So  the  Drake  place  was  a  household 
possession  and  a  pride,  and,  in  after  days,  a 
delightsome  memory  to  all  its  inmates,  an& 
to  the  neighborhood  a  happy  exponent  of 
domestic  progress.  Mixer  alone  lifted  his 
tail  in  protest.  To  him  the  times  were  out 
of  joint;  there  seemed  no  rest  for  his  dogship; 
the  places  in  front  of  the  fire  and  on  the  door 
mat  which  he  had  once  known,  now  knew 
him  no  more.  Disconsolately,  he  betook  him- 
self to  an  old  box,  which  Jonas,  in  grateful 
appreciation  of  the  Mixer  of  the  past,  bedded 
with  straw  and  placed  under  the  back  door 
apple  tree.  Sociologically  Mixer  was  of  the 
Laisser  faire  persuasion. 

Long  years  after  this  time,  Sam  Drake 
enjoyed  telling  the  story  of  his  first  ca,bin  in 
Riverton,  "which,"  he  said,  "he  felt  very 
much  stuck  up  about  when  it  got  floored  with 
bass  wood  boards  twelve  inches  wide." 
"But,"  he  added,  with  a  merry  twinkle  in 
his  eye,  "that  he  didn't  feel  quite  so  .proud 


THE  HIVEHTON  MTNISTEU. 


when  he  found  those  same  bass  wood  boards 
shrunk  one  inch  every  year  for  thirteen 
years."  This  was  more  true  than  some  of 
the  pioneer  yarns. 

Word  had  gone  out  of  "a  quilting  at  Mrs. 
Drake's."  Now,  be  it  remembered,  that  a 
quilting  meant  that  through  the  long  winter 
evenings  some  tired  fingers  had  been  busy 
cutting  calico  into  a  thousand  or  more  small 
bits,  infinitesimal  squares,  parallelograms, 
pentagons,  hexagons,  octagons,  ellipses,  and 
the  whole  family  of  triangles,  and  then  sew- 
ing them  together  into  something  having 
four  rectangles  and  called  a  block. 

With  the  coming  of  Spring,  it  may  be  pre- 
sumed that  enougth  blocks  had  been  fash- 
ioned generously  to  cover  a  bed.  Now  with 
padding  between  the  upper  and  under,  and 
the  whole  stretched  on  four  long  strips  of 
wood,  was  constituted  the  thing  which  called 
together  the  dames  and  damsels  near  and  far. 
T!he  finished  quilt  represented  something 
near  a  million  stitches,  and  it,  along  with  the 
spinning  wheel,  indicated  what  was  tihe  pas- 
time of  our  foremothers.  Does  this  passion 
of  our  grandmothers  for  chopping  calico  into 
bits  for  the  sake  of  sewing  them  together 
seem  to  the  maiden  about  to  step  into  the 
20th  century,  just  a  little  ludicrous?  When 
another  hundred  years  have  passed,  may  not 
her  fads  appear  quite  as  much  open  to 
criticism? 

Moreover,  another  fact  to  be  remembered,. 


THE  UJVBHTON  MINISTER. 


Mrs.  Drake  was  one  of  those  whose  cookery 
always  turned  out  just  right,  and  she  was 
always  well  supported  by  her  first  lieutenant, 
Rachel.  .  The  sweetest,  whitest  bread,  the 
yellowest  Ibutter,  the  creamiesit  milk;  cakes 
and  custards  which  were  pronounced  perfect- 
ly delicious;  platters  and  platters  of  chipped 
beef  and  venison,  cold  chicken,  and  ham,  jel- 
lies, apple  butter,  pumpkin  butter,  plum  but- 
ter, peach  butter,  and  all  other  butters; — you 
would  have  thought  Mrs.  Drake  was  commis- 
sary for  a  small  army. 

Beside  this,  Mrs.  Drake,  to  grace  the  occa- 
sion, had  brought  out  her  new  set  of  dark 
blue  dishes,  which  Mrs.  Smile  especially 
admired  because,  as  she  said,  "they  wouldn't 
show  dirt." 

Two  filled  quilting  frames  are  submissively 
waiting  for  the  needles.  The  hour  has  come. 
Everything  is  ready,  and  now  how  still.  It 
is  the  hush  which  comes  just  before  the 
battle.  Rachel  is  seated  at  the  outlook 
beside  the  window  which  is  screened  by  the 
sweet  scented  honeysuckle  which  her  fingers 
have  taught  to  climb. 

Social  life  in  Rivertou  was  social.  Civiliza- 
tion bad  not  yet  introduced  cliques  and  sects. 
"My  set"  had  not  yet  partitioned  it  off  into 
petty  pens.  Some  gossip  at  these  informal 
gatherings?  Yes,  and  so  there  is  where  men 
gather  at  the  corner  grocery,  or  sit  around 
on  store  boxes.  Yes,  liberty  is  abused,  nev- 
<*rtheless  the  cure  for  the  abuse  lies  in  liber- 


THE   RIVEliTON   MINISTER. 


ty;  true  liberty  which  is  the  creature  of 
l>enevolent  law.  Free  speech  for  woman  as 
well  as  man.  Blessings  on  the  old  quiltings. 
They  stitch  society  together  in  common  sym- 
pathies and  loving  mutuality;  fashion  the 
individual  pieces  into  a  many  colored  fabric. 
Blessings  on  that  which  lifts  the  weary  feet 
for  a  while  out  of  the  daily  tread  mills. 

But  silence!  There's  a  footstep  on  the 
gravel  walk.  Rachel  from  behind  her  re- 
doubt takes  observations.  "Dear  me,  mother, 
if  it  isn't  Mrs.  Grande.  Oomes  early  does'nt 
she?  Early  to  quilting,  late  to  church!" 

Here  it  may  be  well  to  state  that  there  was 
one  thing  which  now  preeminently  tasked 
the  female  thought  of  Riverton,  viz,  selecting 
the  Minister's  wife.  On  wife  abstract  there 
was  one  mind;  on  the  wife  concrete  there 
were  many.  Different  mothers,  different 
minds.  As  they  come  to  the  quilting  let  us 
do  a  little  mind-reading. 

But  Mrs.  Grande  has  no  marriageable 
daughters.  She's  disinterested.  Not  too 
fast.  She  has  a  sister  who  has  just  been 
secured  to  teach  the  village  school.  She's  a 
round,  smooth  body,  with  two  little  exact 
curls  which  danced  up  and  down  in  front  of 
each  ear.  Mrs.  Grande  thinks  her  sister, 
Marilla  Dean,  is  the  very  one  for  Mr.  Goldwin. 
Crow's  feet  already  coming  in  sight?  Never 
mind  that.  She's  well  preserved;  no  young 
girl,  giddy  and  unripe;  one  of  the  dignified 
and  steady  kind.  Mr.  Goldwin  has  been  in- 
vited to  tea  at  Mrs.  Grande's  often  of  late. 


106 


THE   KJVERTON   MINISTER. 


Another  step;  quick  and  business  like. 
That's  Mrs.  Dale.  When  she  comes,  work 
begins.  She  thinks  her  Deborah  would  make 
the  Minister's  clothes  look  so  well;  keep  his 
linen  immaculate,  and  his  stand  up  collar  of 
most  approved  uprightness;  and  she  can  get 
a  good  meal  of  victuals  in  less  time  and  in 
better  shape  than  any  other  girl  in  Riverton. 

And  'there's  Mrs.  Stoile,  My!  how  she 
waddles!  Carries  a  deal  of  the  adipose.  She 
knows  half  a  score  of  Smiles,  among  whom 
Mr.  Groldwin  could  not  go  amiss.  But  "in 
particular,  there's  tall  Jemima  Persimmons 
Smile.  She  is  so  economical  like,  has  "facul- 
ty," can  make  a  dollar  go  farther  than  any- 
body else;  takes  an  old  coat  and  turns  it, 
and  I  declare,  you'd  think  it  brand  new;'7 
very  important  trait  in  a  Minister's  wife. 

Hello!  there  they  come,  all  in  a  bunch. 
Mrs.  Jack  Barnett  still  carrying  the  fresh, 
clear  complexion  of  Vermont;  Mrs.  Nat  Haw- 
kins, public  mourner,  goes  to  all  the  funerals 
anywhere  in  reach,  sits  close  to  the  mourners 
and  watches'  them,  and  then  runs  in  "just  a 
minute"  at  all  the  neighbors,  and  in  her  own 
dramatic  way,  tells  them  how  the  "mourn- 
ers took  on;"  Mrs.  Sol  Perkins,  too,  and  the 
blacksmith's  wife,  Mrs.  Tim  Jones;  and  Mrs. 
Enos  Marty n,  the  merchant's  wife,  and 
others,  some  of  them  young  friends  of  Rachel, 
an  introduction  to  whom  now  in  the  general 
hubbub,  would  only  be  confusing.  It  is  safe 
to  say  that  these  all  have  considered  the 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


preacher,  if  not  his  preaching,  and  have  "an 
idea"  just  where  he  would  do  well  to  mate. 

Mrs.  Drake,  good  discreet  soul,  she's  far 
enough  from  ever  lisping  a  word,  but  that. 
does  not  preclude  her  from  thinking  down 
deep  in  her  heart  that  Rachel  would  exactly 
fill  the  place,  for  everybody  likes  her,  and  she 
has  such  nice  ways,  and  she  kind  of  naturally 
takes  to  religion. 

Now  all  the  small  change  of  personal  salu- 
tations and  domestic  inquiries  has  gone 
around,  and  all  have  got  down  to  business. 
Buzz,  buzz!  The  sound  of  many  voices  and 
the  needles  flying  in  and  out. 

"WaVt  that  just  awful  about  Mr.  Pier- 
pont,"  said  Mrs.  Smile,  as  she  straightened 
up  to  thread  her  needle.  "Reach  that  spool, 
will  you,  Mrs.  Perkins?  Why  they  say  he 
isn't  expected  to  live." 

"O!  not  so  bad  as  that,  I  guess,"  interposed 
Mrs.  Barnett,  as  she  gave  her  needle  an  ener- 
getic pull.  The  Doctor  thinks  he'll  be  around 
in  a  few  weeks." 

"Dr.  Bancroft's  a  splendid  physician,— 
couldn't  have  a  better,"  said  little  Mrs.  Mar- 
ty n;  "but  how  did  it  happen  anyhow?  I 
have  heard  so  many  reports  I  don't  know 
what  to  believe." 

Then  each  gave  her  own  version  of  the 
catastrophe,  all  coming  at  last  to  the  import- 
ant facts,  and  all  coupling  Mr.  Goldwin  with 
Isabel  in  the  moonlight  stroll. 

Meanwhile  Mrs.  Dale    and    Mrs.    Grande 


108 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


have  their  heads  pretty  close  together  as  they 
are  finishing  off  one  corner  of  the  quilt. 
"Well,"  said  Mrs.  Dale,  'if  he  wants  Isabel 
Tupper,  it's  a  good  thing,  her  father  has  the 
money  to  set  her  up,  or  else  I'm  thinking,  Mr. 
Goldwin  would  find  her  an  expensive 
luxury." 

"Yes,  indeed,"  said  Mrs.  Grande,  "Father 
Tupper  'd  have  to  set  her  up  and  buy  her  a 
piano.  I  think  it  would  be  a  very  poor  match, 
myself." 

"What's  that?"  said  Mrs.  Barnett,  whose 
needle  was  overtaking  Mrs.  Grande,  and  who 
knew  a  little  rumor  of  Mr.  Goldwin's  Ver- 
mont attachment.  "Don't  concern  your- 
selves about  Mr.  Goldwin.  I  think  you're  all 
on  the  wrong  trail." 

"Do  you?  Do  you?"  said  several  voices 
at  once. 

"Yes,  I  know  you  are." 

"O!  Mrs.  Barnett,  who  is  she?  Where  does 
she  live?  Whom  does  she  look  like?  When 
will  he  bring  her  here?"  All  showed 
these  questions  in  their  eager  faces,  but  it 
took  Mrs.  Hawkins  to  ask  them. 

"Well,  now,  I've  got  into  it,  haven't  1," 
exclaimed  Mrs.  Barnett,  laughing  and  color- 
ing deeply;  "I'll  stop  right  here;  and  remem- 
ber I  may  be  on  the  wrong  trail." 

For  a  moment  the  buzz  died  away;  an  " 
ominous  silence;  evidently  several  thought 
that  Mrs.  Barnett  had  put  a  different  aspect 
on  affairs.  Then  Mr.  Pierpont  and  Miss 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


10!) 


Sherburne  were  discussed,  as  they  rolled  up 
a.  completed  half  yard  of  a  quilt. 

But  Mrs.  Drake,  who  had  done  some  think- 
ing and  thus  far  had  said  little,  and  who  gen- 
erally made  a  point  when  she  tried;  evidently 
felt  that  the  last  word  had  not  been  spoken 
in  regard  to  her  pastor's  case.  So  she  opened' 
her  mind  with  a  sedateness  which  at  once 
gained  attention. 

"Now,"  said  she,  "it  seems  to  me  there  are 
plenty  of  girls  right  here  in  Kiverton,  who 
can  bake  and  brew,  wash  and  iron,  mend  and 
make  over,  and  who  can  hold  their  tongues 
and  their  tempers,  and  on  the  whole  are 
pretty  good  Christians." 

"Yes,  yes,  Mrs.  Drake;  you're  right  this 
time,"  broke  in  Mrs.  Grande,  Mrs.  Hawkins 
and  several  others. 

"But,  don't  be  so  fast,  hear  me  through," 
continued  Mrs.  Drake,  straightening  herself 
up;  "this  and  much  more  our  Minister  will 
want  in  a  wife,  unless  I'm  greatly  mistaken." 

"Isabel  Tupper,  or  Miss  Sherburne  do  you 
mean?"  squeaked  Mrs.  Smile.  At  the  men- 
tion of  these  names,  Mrs.  Col.  Grande  clouded 
and  glowered,  and  clapped  her  hand  to  her 
heart  as  if  taken  with  a  sudden  pain.  If 
anything  has  a  keener  edge  than  jealousy, 
what  is  it? 

But  Mrs.  Drake  was  not  to  be  turned  aside. 
"Some  one,"  she  persisted,  "who  is  educated 
and  able  to  enter  into  a  Minister's  thoughts 
and  plans,  and  trials,  too;  some  one  to  whom- 


110 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


vfe  can  look  up;  and  that  fruit  doesn't  grow- 
on  every  tree." 

"I  agree  with  you,  Mrs.  Drake,"  said  the 
decided  Mrs.  Dale. 

"And,  still  further,"  continued  Mrs.  Drake, 
-"I  believe  our  pastor  can  be  trusted  to  do 
the  wise  thing." 

"That  he  can,"  chimed  in  Mrs.  Barnett;  "I 
think  we  need  concern  ourselves  only  about 
our  part  of  the  work;  rest  assured,  Mr.  Gold- 
win  will  prove  equal  to  his." 

And  so  the  pastor's  wife  was  dropped.  Not 
even  Mrs.  Hawkins  had  a  word  to  add.  Con- 
science did  a  little  wholesome  picking  all 
around. 

Then  another  topic  which  had  been 
broached  of  late;  the  building  of  a  Meeting 
House.  All  declared  themselves  tired  of  the 
school  house,  but  some  said,  "We  are  too 
poor;"  some,  "the  time  hasn't  come  for  that," 
or,  "better  wait  till  we  decently  support  our 
Minister."  But  Mrs.  Drake  and  MBB.  Dale 
were  of  other  mind.  "Build  a  church,"  said 
they,  "and  that  will  help  the  Minister,  help 
everything  good." 

"Well  let's  do  something,  now,"  said  Mrs. 
Barnett.  Up  spoke  little  Mrs.  Martyn,  "The 
only  way  to  do  something  is  to  do  it.  I'll  tell 
you,  let's  organize  right  here  a  church  fur- 
nishing society,  and  if  the  men  will  bnild  the 
church,  we  ladies  will  furnish  it" 

The  suggestion  carried  with  everyone. 
"That's  it,  say  we  do,"  came  from  half  a  dozen 


THE   KIVERTON   MINISTER. 


Ill 


voices  at  once.  Before  the  ladies  went  home 
from  that  quilting,  Riverton  had  a  Ladies' 
Church  Aid  Society,  with  Mrs.  Drake  as  Pres- 
ident and  Mrs.  Grande  as  Vice-President,  and 
an  Executive  Committee  with  Mrs.  Tupper 
and  Mrs.  Dale  and  Mrs.  Barnett  on  it,  and 
Mrs.  Martyn  as  Secretary  and  Treasurer. 

This  action  laid  the  first  stone,  and  greatly 
encouraged  Mr.  Goldwin,  who,  if  the  truth 
were  known,  had  suggested  to  several  that 
the  ladies  take  the  initiative  toward  the  new 
church.  Again,  blessings  on  the  old  quilt- 
ings. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

A  few  hours  after  the  ugly  arrow  had  torn 
the  flesh  of  Daniel  Pierpont,  quiet  resumed 
place  in  the  Tupper  home,  if  not  in  the  Tup- 
per  hearts.  Emily  alone  in  her  room,  letting 
her  wealth  of  hair  fall  in  freedom  on  her 
shoulders,  seated  herself  at  the  open  window, 
and,  as  the  cooling  breeze  soothed  her  hot 
brow,  'sought  to  bring  her  mind,  as  a  wildly 
driven  bark,  once  more  into  port.  The  mid- 
night had  brought  clouds,  but  between  the 
rifts  were  the  stars,  and  they  talked  to  her. 
At  that  moment  it  was  the  stars  and  not  the 
clouds  which  had  a  language.  Was  it  real 
or  was  all  a  dream? 

Of  one  thing  Emily  thought  she  was  sure. 
She  more  than  fancied  she  had  seen  that 
night  in  Pierpont's  eye  a  light  responsive, 
which  was  real;  which  was  love.  That  last 
look  he  gave  her,  even  in  the  midst  of  suffer- 
ing and  anxious  foreboding,  so  soulful  and 
tender;  it  must  have  been  meant  for  her 
alone.  She  was  sipping  the  first  drops  of 
a  new  delight.  And  yet  was  she  sure?  Not 
a  word  had  he  spoken.  'Twas  the  delicious 
pantomime  of  love.  She  could  not  be  mis- 
taken. She  surrendered  to  the  triumphant 
passion  of  her  soul. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER.  US'. 

Meanwhile  in  a  room  below  Pierpont  had 
fallen  into  a  stupor  from  which  he  aroused 
only  to  lapse  into  it  again.  Goldwin,  left  in 
charge  of  the  sick  man  for  the  night,  settled 
in  the  great  chair  by  his  bedside,  with  Ms. 
limbs  resting  on  a  chair  in  front  of  him, 
and  composed  himself  to  thought,  but  not 
to  slumber.  What  word  had  this  strange 
night  for  him?  He  accepted  no  Turkish 
philosophy  of  fate.  What  doors  did  that 
arrow  open  through  which  he  might 
bring  help  to  these  lives?  Little  did  the 
people  of  Riverton  realize  how  the  young 
Minister  yearned  over  them.  Each  person  in 
thought  many  times  he  had  weighed,  .and 
asked  entrance  in  behalf  of  the  truth  to  his 
heart.  With  more  than  a  mother's  tender- 
ness and  tenacity  he  hungered  for  the  better 
things 'for  these  growing  homes.  His  bur- 
then of  responsibility  weighed  heavily,  and 
often  he  famished  for  more  companionship  in 
carrying  it. 

Sometimes  faith  came  gushing  from  the 
rock,  and  gurgling  by  the  wayside;  sometimes 
it  came  only  by  hard  pumping  from  a  deeply 
buried  spring.  He  was  in  the  main  cheerful, 
hopeful;  but  he  was  subject  to  the  adula- 
tions of  the  human. 

His  little  church,  originally  constituted 
with  the  apostolic  number,  twelve  members, 
was  now  increased  to  twenty  one.  He 
scoured  the  territory  widely  around  Rivertou, 
preaching  in  private  houses  and  from  house 


114 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


to  house,  sowing  beside  all  waters  and,  while 
he  did  not  conform  to  the  injunction,  "salute 
no  one  by  the  way,"  he  easily  and  literally 
observed  another;  "carry  neither  purse  nor 


Riverton  all  the  while  was  crystalizing  into 
what  is  called  advanced  civilization.  Some 
who  never  take  kindly  to  this  advance,  and 
are  always  hanging  on  the  debatable  margin 
where  every  man  does  that  which  is  right  in 
his  own  eyes,  had  "moved  on."  The  town 
was  beginning  to  have  a  personality;  becom- 
ing an  autonomy.  It  might  be  said  that  it 
had  passed  its  first  stage  of  fermentation,  and 
had  its  first  skimming.  There  were  likely  to 
be  some  dregs,  and  the  final  precipitate  was 
problematical.  Mr.  Goldwin  felt  that  there 
was  but  one  reagent  which  could  volatilize 
every  unwholesome  atom. 

For  the  young  minister,  snatched  from 
books  and  schools  and  erudition  and  set 
down  in  the  all  but  inviolate  wilderness,  the 
change  was  novel,  and  adventure  relieved 
many  an  otherwise  tedious  day.  One  even- 
ing he  went  out  six  miles  to  preach.  The  one 
family  room  had  been  seated  with  slabs 
stretched  from  bed  to  chair  and  from  chair 
•to  chest,  while  two  barrels,  on  which  two 
tallow  dips  were  persuaded  to  stand  in  their 
own  strength  and  grease,  served  as  candle 
sticks.  The  services  had  commenced,  and 
Mr.  Goldwin  was  getting  under  full  canvas, 
when  'lo!  a  sudden  reef!  The  man  of  the 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


house  undertook  to  give  light  by  snuffing  the 
long  and  curling  wick  and  snuffed  out  one, 
and  upsetting,  put  out  the  other.  That  dark- 
ness could  be  felt.  Those  were  not  quite  the 
days  of  Lucifer  matches.  A  touching  appeal, 
a  cry  of  "O  mercy!"  and  the  very  stout  old 
lady  went  shuffling  about,  and  at  last,  by 
some  mysterious  fiat  there  was  light.  But  in 
or  out  of  the  darkness,  the  preacjier  contin- 
ued remarking  and  the  thread  of  his  dis- 
course successfully  unwound.  This  rural 
family  counted  themselves  fortunate  above 
many  of  their  neighbors,  in  that  they  were 
able  to  ride  to  Riverton  to  church.  For  they 
had  a  very  primitive  ox  cart  which  gee  — 
woh  —  hawed  up  to  the  school  house  door  of 
a  Lord's  day. 

At  the  time  that  Mr.  Goldwin  was  focaliz- 
ing the  Christian  forces  for  organizing  a 
church,  he  set  out  on  his  pony  to  notify  a 
family  which  was  living  twelve  miles  from 
Riverton.  A  solitary  ride;  but  solitude  in 
the  wood  was  not  loneliness  to  Mr.  Goldwin. 
Then  he  especially  realized  a  Great  Compan- 
ionship, and  a  certain  high  composure  and 
upper  atmosphere  stole  thence  into  his 
ministries. 

He  was  not  long  out  when  a  sudden  spurt 
of  snow  concealed  the  trail,  and  as  the  dark- 
ness drew  on,  the  studious  pastor  awoke  from 
sermon  meditations  to  the  consideration  of 
that  which  was  more  immediate,  and  by  way 
of  a  personal  application,  exclaimed,  "Really, 
I  do  believe  Pm  lost!" 


116 


TlIK   RIVERTON    MINISTER. 


After  wandering  long,  trying  supposed 
paths  to  find  them  all  bringing  up  nowhere, 
and  concluding  that  night  wherein  all  the 
beasts  of  the  forest  do  creep  forth,  had  voices 
conducive  to  feelings  quite  other  than  poetic, 
he  dropped  the  reins  on  pony's  neck  and  sur- 
rendered, and  was  brought,  almost  by  a  bee 
line,  to  a  spot  where  were  a  few  winking  em- 
bers and  a  lone  Indian.  After  encouraging 
the  fire,  minister  and  Iledman  sat  down  by  it, 
and  Mr.  Goldwin  attempted  some  of  the 
Indian's  provender;  but  the  ashes  and  soot 
and  long  hairs  were  too  much  for  his  hunger, 
and  the  food  was  returned  with  thanks.  So 
Redman  crawled  under  his  blanket  and  white 
man  lay  down  under  the  shelter  of  a  log  with 
his  feet  to  the  fire,  and,  with  one  eye  on  his 
room-mate,  watched  for  the  morning.  As 
there  was  no  whiskey  in  camp  the  danger 
was  not  imminent.  There  was  not  even 
"baccer"  enough  to  fill  the  pipe  of  peace!  In 
the  morning,  Mr.  Goldwin  sought  to  shed 
light  on  his  companion's  theology.  But  such 
a  look  of  derision  and  scorn  of  the  "White 
Man's  Great  Spirit!"  And  with  far  too  much 
reason. 

Then,  as  now,  Oupid  assailed  men  andi 
women.  The  minister,  in  his  official  capacity 
was  called  to  a  farm  house  some  four  miles 
from  town.  When  he  arrived  at  the  house 
where  the  wedding  was  to  be  solemnized,  to 
his  surprise  the  duet  had  grown  to  a  quartet, 
the  party  of  the  second  part  naively  confes- 


THK   ftJLVBRTON   MINISTER. 


117 


"that  times  were  a  little  close  and  he 
the  job  could  be  done  cheaper  if 
the  parson  said  the  word  for  all  four  at 
once."  Mr.  Gold  win  literally  smiled  on  the 
nuptial  combine;  and  the  story  went  with 
many  a  loud  smile  around  Riverton.  "Sharp- 
est dodge  yet  on  the  preacher,"  said  Haw- 
kins, chucking  Drake  under  the  ribs.  Drake 
shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  said,  "rather  a 
gouge  game."  Yet  it  was  really  planned  in 
nil  simplicity  and  good  intent. 

But  a  wedding  which  left  a  still  deeper 
impresisio,n  on  the  young  clergyman,  was  one 
Avhich  he  attended  after  facing  a  sleety  gale 
for  nine  miles.  The  happy  couple  were 
Dutch.  The  road  being  almost  impassible, 
so  that  journeying  with  speed  was  impossible, 
the  parson  became  chilled  through.  His 
good  humor  was  just  a  little  strained.  But, 
once  within,  the  huge  fires  of  hickory  and  of 
hospitality  soon  put  warmth  in  the  blood, 
and  the  sight  of  tables  apparently  more  than 
covered  with  every  imaginable  edible  com- 
pound known  to  the  English  or  Dutch  cuisine 
filled  all  the  near  horizon  with  hope  soon  lost 
in  glad  fruition. 

When  the  marriage  and  the  feast  were 
ended  and  Mr.  Goldwin  was  about  to  leave, 
Hans  and  his  Gretchen,  hand  in  hand,  fol- 
lowed him  out  to  his  horse.  The  blossoming 
bride  pressed  upon  Mr.  Goldwin  a  little 
package  containing  samples  from  the  table, 
requesting  him  to  carry  it  to  his  wife.  At 


118 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


the  same  time  Hans,  taking  out  his  leathern 
purse,  inquired,  "Veil  vot's  te  tamage?"  On 
being  told  that  he  was  the  better  judge  as  to 
that,  Hans,  his  sunflower  face  expanding 
with  a  broad  generosity,  handed  over  fifty 
cents,  and  with  Gretchen  squeezing  his  hand, 
said,  "you  did  it  tight  parson.  I  wood  hef 
geefen  vun  tollar  than  not  hef  it  done." 

Samuel  Drake  and  John  Barnett  were 
chosen  to  office  in  the  little  church.  It  is  an 
interesting  fact  that  Stubbs,  the  half  breed, 
of  whom  mention  has  been  made,  was  the 
fruit  first  to  ripen  under  the  ministry  of  Mr. 
Goldwin.  Stubbs  was  a  man  of  all  work, 
sometimes  employed  at  the  hotel,  sometimes 
gardening  for  General  Tupper,  sometimes  en- 
gaged elsewhere.  Industrious  and  willing,. 
and  quick  to  catch  a  suggestion,  he  was 
called  a  handy  person  to  have  around.  On 
the  Indian  side,  tall,  straight  as  an  arrow, 
well  knit  and  lithe  as  a  fox;  his  features  and 
mental  cast  bespoke  the  Caucassian  side  of 
his  lineage.  He  was  one  of  the  few  more 
fortunate  and  promising  waifs  of  the  West. 

From  that  first  day  when  Mr.  Goldwin  dis- 
mounted at  the  tavern  and  passed  over  his 
pony  to  Stubbs  care,  Stubbs  had  observed  the 
minister  closely.  Supposed  to  see  little  and 
think  less,  he  really  saw  everything  and  said 
nothing. 

After  a  time  he  stepped  in  occasionally  to 
church;  at  first  rather  timidly,  and  dropping 
down  close  by  the  door.  Then  he  grew  a. 


THE   KIVERTON   BONISTBR. 


119 


little  bolder  and  of  winter  Sunday  mornings, 
lie  would  happen  in  and  lend  a  hand  in  kind- 
ling the  fire  and  arranging  the  benches. 

On  one  of  these  early  Sabbaths  in  River- 
ton,  the  congregation  had  assembled  and  the 
discourse  was  well  begun,  when  suddenly 
loud  shouts  without,  many  voices  in  the 
Htreet,  and  three  deer  rush  by,  hotly  pursued 
by  dogs  and  several  mounted  hunters.  In 
less  than  thirty  seconds,  Mr.  Goldwin  was 
addressing  chiefly  empty  seats.  But  lie  was 
agreeably  surprised  to  see  that  Stubbs,  with 
all  his  instincts  for  the  chase,  obeyed  a  high- 
er instinct  and  sat  quietly  facing  him,  as 
though  nothing  unusual  had  occurred. 

When  the  little  group  of  twelve  gathered 
to  constitute  the  first  church  of  Rivertou, 
Btubbs  was  one  of  the  twelve.  By  odd  hours 
with  Mr.  Goldwin  he  learned  to  read,  and 
with  a  delight  almost  pathetic,  lie  learned  to 
ecrawl  his  own  name.  He  had  always  been 
called  simply  Stubbs;  but  when  he  came  to 
be  baptized,  he  chose  to  prefix  it  with  the 
name  Christian;  so  it  was  henceforth  Christ- 
ian Stubbs. 

Mr.  Goldwin  was  hardly,  in  all  respects, 
an  orator.  Pompous  declamation  and  stud- 
ied contrivances  of  speech  were  never  his 
tare.  Affection  and  cant  'he  despised.  If 
an  earnestness,  directness  and  sincerity 
which  won  attention  and  wrought  conviction 
are  orato>ry,then  he  was  an  orator.  Clinging 
to  Ms  tenets,  he  -was  charitaible  toward 


320 


THE  IIIVEIITON  MINISTER. 


those  who  differed  from  him.  Also,  while, 
-exalting  the  .spiritual,  he  did  not  forget  the 
physical.  Abundant  exercise  in  the  fresh 
.air  put  strength  and  warmth  into  his  think- 
ing and  red  corpuscles  not  only  in  his 
blood  but  into  his  theology . 

The  day  the  church  was  born  the  school 
house  was  packed,  and  Mr.  Goldwin,  quite 
equal  to  the  occasion,  preached  on  the  place 
and  mission  of  the  church,  and  produced  a 
deep  impression.  Pierpont  said  that,  take 
it  all  in  all,  it  was  the  most  powerful  dis- 
course he  ever  heard;  and  Col.  Grande  at  the 
close  stood  on  the  school  house  steps,  flour- 
ished his  red  handkerchief,  blew  his  trumpet 
and  said  to  nearly  every  passer  out,  "Mr. 
Goldwiu  to-day  strikingly  reminded  me  of 
Henry  Clay." 

These  are  a  few  of  the  incidents  when  Riv- 
er-ton and  its  young  clergyman  began  to 
make  history.  To-night  as  Mr.  Goldwin 
watched  in  that  silent  home  of  Gen.  Tupper, 
he -found  himself  repeatedly  reviewing  his 
part  and  his  responsibility  in  that  history; 
yet  repeatedly  returning  to  the  bedside  and 
its  unquiet  slumberer.  For  just  now  his 
special  concern  was  for  Pierpont.  Not  so 
much  for  his  physical  recovery;  he  expected 
that.  His  heart  went  out  for  this  young  chiv- 
aJric  and  studious  lawyer.  With  him  he 
had  much  in  common.  Warm  friendship 
conspired  with  Christian  love  in  longing  to 
«ee  the  character  and  influence  of  Pierpont 


KIVKKTO.V    MINISTER. 


121 


keyed  to  the  highest  ideals.  This  man  and 
many  others  stood  near — stood  within  the 
outer  court.  For  the  thousandth  time  Gold- 
win  asked  himself,  "How  can  I  persuade 
them  to  cross  the  threshold  and  reverentially 
stand  within  the  great  Temple?" 

Plans,  hopes,  memories,  prayers — until, 
with  the  sweet  notes  of  the  first  bird  of  morn- 
ing stilling  his  spirit,  he  forgot  all  in  a  few 
moments  of  rest. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Of  course  the  Pierpont  injury  soon  had  all 
Riverton  by  the  ears.  Reports  travelled  and 
grew  until  some  had  it  that  the  injured  man 
would  not  live  through  the  day.  At  this 
stage  of  uncertainty  and  alarm  Dr.  Bancroft 
appeared  on  the  street  and  was  the  target 
of  eager  questioners. 

"No,  he  is  not  dead  nor  dying,''  said  the 
doctor.  "May  outlive  all  of  us." 

"What!  is'nt  he  dangerously  wounded?" 
said  Hawkins,  who  was  mouthpiece  for  the 
bystanders. 

"The  wound  requires  careful  watching — 
may  take  a  dangerous  turn." 

"I  understand  an  Indian  shot  him,"  said 
Hawkins. 

"Your  understanding  is  at  fault,"  »aid  he 
imperturbable  doctor. 

"What  do  you  mean?  Wasn't  Pierpont 
shot,"  asked  several  voices,  and  the  eager 
faces  crowded  closer  about  the  doctor. 

"Certainly  he  was  shot,  but  it  wasn't  an 
Indian  that  shot  the  arrow." 

"Wasn't  it?    We  heard  it  was" 

"No,  that's  a  mistake.  It  wasn't  an  In- 
dian." 

"Who  in  the  deuce  was  it  then?"  inquired 
Hawkins.  "Some  white  rascal?" 


THE  RIVEUTON  MINISTER. 


123 


"I  can't  say,  Hawkins;  although  I  have 
my  suspicions.  I  only  know  that  the  man 
who  sold  to  the  Indian  the  liquor  is  the  man 
who  shot  the  arrow." 

Hawkins  slunk  away  and  ere  long  stealth- 
ily slipped  into  O'Flannigans.  No  whiskey 
bitters  prescribed  by  Dr.  Bancroft  for  his 
patients. 

Mr.  Goldwin  found  himself  quite  ex- 
hausted with  the  night  of  anxeity  and  watch- 
ing, and  with  rehearsing  the  story  of  the 
tragedy  to  many  eager  questioners.  So  after 
dinner  he  quietly  slipped  out  and  chose  a 
path  which  ran  to  north  and  east  of  the  town 
and  which  soon  concealed  him  in  the  forest's 
welcome  solitude.  Here  lying  down  and 
looking  up  into  the  tree  tops,  and  watching 
the  gray  squirrels  spring  from  branch  to 
branch,  pausing  occasionally  to  gaze  at  him 
so  saucily;  or  listening  to  the  chipmunk  and 
the  mourning  dove,  and  now  and  then  the 
whirr  of  a  partridge,  Mr.  Goldwin  fell  asleep. 
At  last  the  slant  rays  of  sunshine  creeping 
under  the  boughs  and  into  his  face,  aroused 
him,  and  he  resumed  his  stroll  till  he  came 
to  the  bank  of  the  Eappilee. 

Here  he  stumbled  on  Jonas  Drake,  indulg- 
ing his  love  of  the  lone  woods  and  streams, 
and  of  fishing. 

"Ah,  Jonas,  is  it  you?" 

"Yes  sir,  it's  myself  I  believe,  Mr.  Gold- 
win." 

"What  luck?"    said  Mr.    Goldwin,    as    he 


124 


THE  RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 


picked  his  way  from  rock  to  rock  to  the 
fisherman's  side. 

"O,  moderate;  more  nibble  than  catch  so 
far.  Here  I  have  an  extra  tackle,  and  I  have 
a  plenty  of  minnows,  won't  yoii  try  your 
luck?"  * 

"That  I  will,  with  great  pleasure,"  said  Mr. 
Goldwin,  and  immediately  begun  to  unwind 
the  line  and  bait  the  hook.  Soon  he  felt  the 
fish  biting  tentatively  and  forthwith  he  forgot 
all  his  cares.  After  they  had  made  quite  a 
"catch,"  and  Jonas  had  a  glorious  string  of 
Gogolies,  Bass,  >aoid  Cait  Fish;  they  set  their 
fish  poles,  and  sat  down  on  the  bank.  Mr. 
Goldwin  said,  as  he  lifted  his  hat  and  wiped 
his  face,  "I'm  feeling  fifty  per  cent,  better 
than  I  did  two  hours  ago.  Jonas,  I'm  glad 
I  crossed  your  path  to-day."  The  boy  eyed 
him  with  real  satisfaction. 

Then,  as  they  lay  back  on  the  grass,  Mr. 
Goldwin  told  some  fish  stories  of  Lake  Cham- 
plain  and  his  college  days.  Jonas  was  a 
silent  boy,  and  of  a  rather  heavy  cast  of 
countenance,  and,  as  is  sometimes  the  lot  of 
such  boys,  was  called  by  many  dull  and  inert. 
But  he  had  his  thoughts;  and  a  few,  such  for 
instance  as  his  mother  and  sister,  knew  it. 
"College!"  In  his  mind  he  had  often  ques- 
tioned concerning  that  unknown  world,  and, 
now  that  Mr.  Goldwin  had  spoken  the  word, 
he  had  discovered  the  key  to  one  of  those 
quiet  cells  in  Jonas'  mind.  His  natural 
reserve  was  fast  dissolving  before  Mr.  Gold- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


win's  frank,  kindly  way,  which,  while  it  gave 
the  boy  a  feeling  of  freedom,  gave  him  also 
a  feeling  of  self  respect.  Turning  a  more 
eager  look  to  Mr.  Goldwin,  he  said,  "College, 
what  do  you  think  of  it  any  way?" 

"Its  value  to  a  man,  do  you  mean?" 

"Yes,  that's  about  it.  Of  course  I  know 
its  thought  to  be  about  the  thing  for  a 
preacher  or  lawyer,  or  a  rich  man's  son;  but 
does  college  pay  the  common  man  and  the 
poor  boy?" 

"Indeed,  it  does,  Jonas.  I  was  far  from 
being  a  rich  man's  son."  And  then  Mr.  Gold- 
win  gave  a  rapid  sketch  of  his  early  life,  his 
father's  early  death,  his  mother's  frugal 
home,  his  struggles  and  those  of  his  brothers' 
to  gain  an  education,  and  then  added,  "O  yes, 
home  first,  but  college  next  in  my  life." 

This  rapid  spetch  of  Mr.  Goldwin's  perso- 
nal history  seemed  quite  to  surprise  and  cap- 
ture Jonas.  For  a  moment  he  was  silent, 
and  then  he  asked,  "But  what's  the  use  of 
studying  so  much  Latin  and  Greek?  Nobody 
talks  those  languages  now,  does  he?" 

"No  Jonas,  they  are  not  called  spoken 
languages.  And  yet  in  one  sense  they  are 
and  always  will  be  spoken.  They  enter 
essentially  into  the  language  of  almost  every 
civilized  people.  They  are  the  main  fertili- 
zers of  our  English  speech.  English,  French, 
German  —  strike  down  in  any  of  these  lan- 
guages and  you  soon  come  to  Latin  and  Greek 
roots.  To  know  a  boy  well  you  must  know 


126 


THE  EIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


Ms  parents,  and  to  know  your  mother  tongne 
well,  know  Latin  and  Greek  ." 

"But,"  persisted  Jonas,  "don't  college  boys 
forget  their  Latin  as  soon  as  they  can  after 
leaving  college?" 

Mr.  Goldwin  smiled;  "Yes,  in  one  sense, 
many  of  them  do.  But  so  they  do  their  Alge- 
bra and  Trigonometry.  In  a  few  years 
you'll  have  forgotten  those  fish,  and  yet  some 
of  them  will  probably  be  wrought  into  your 
muscle  and  brain.  Besides,  there  is  great 
choice  in  diet  and  I  think  mind  grows  fastest 
and  lustiest  on  a  diet  of  Latin  and  Greek  and 
Mathematics,  with,  of  course,  a  plenty  of 
Science  and  Philosophy." 

"But  then,  ar'n't  there  English  transla- 
tions? Why  not  read  them  and  be  done  with 
it?" 

"For  several  reasons,"  replied  Mr.  Goldwin. 
"In  the  first  place  no  translation  does  full 
justice  to  the  original  text.  Something  of 
the  thought  and  much  of  the  beauty  escapes 
in  the  transfer.  But,  still  more,  the  strength- 
ening and  sharpening  of  our  minds  is  the 
important  object.  Nothing  disciplines  and 
trains  the  thinking  powers  like  digging  out 
some  of  the  best  thoughts  of  the  ages  and 
learning  to  express  them  in  our  own  lan- 
guage. Splendid  practice  it  is  in  discerning 
and  expressing  nice  and  delicate  shades  of 
thought." 

"Yes,"  said  the  boy,  "but  doesn't  anything 
that  we  have  to  dig  for  sharpen  us?" 


THIS  KIVEHTON  MINISTER.  ^27 

"It  certainly  does;  you're  right  there, 
Jonas.  Nevertheless  there  is  great  choice  of 
whetstones.  It  would  take  you  a  long  time 
to  sharpen  your  scythe  on  a  brickbat.  So 
for  the  mind,  take  the  college  whetstones." 

"It  costs  a  fortune  to  go  away  to  school. 
Why  couldn't  I  study  college  books  at  home? 
Couldn't  you  teach  me,  Mr.  Goldwin?"  said 
the  indomitable  Jonas. 

"Hardly,"  was  the  reply.  I  might  help  you 
some,  and  certainly  will  if  you  wish  it.  Still, 
I  could  not  be  a  college  to  you.  College  is 
a  little  world  that  you  can  learn  to  move 
about  in  and  carry  your  part  in.  It  compels 
you  to  measure  yourself  not  only  by  equals, 
but  by  your  superiors.  It  throws  you  into 
the  stream. 

"Supposing  I  can't  swim." 

"O,  but  you  can.  Almost  anyone  can  when 
its  swim  or  sink.  Besides,  the  college  waters 
are  carefully  graded  in  depth  to  the  growing 
capacity  of  the  w^ould  be  swimmer,  and  are 
well  supplied  with  life  protectors." 

"Hawkins  says  college  boys  get  the  big- 
head,"  said  Jonas,  with  an  equivocal  look, 
for  he  knew  Hawkins  was  weak  authority. 

"Well,  as  to  that,"  said  Mr.  Goldwin, 
"some  go  through  college  and  some  the  col- 
lege goes  through  them — a  big  difference. 
While  self-conceit,  or  the  bighead,  as  you 
say,  comes  from  ignorance;  proper  self-confi- 
dence comes  from  knowledge.  Nothing  like 
robbing  mind  against  mind,  classmate  with 


Til K   KIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


classmate,  pupil  with  (teacher;  wears  off 
the  moss  of  prejudice,  starts  the  whole  ma- 
chinery. One  meets  in  college  some  rare, 
rich  soul,  some  professor  or  president,  who 
has  been  there  before  him,  and  knows  all 
about  it;  knows  how  to  open  just  the  right 
door  for  him — lives,  and  knows  how  to  make 
him  live.  Hang  your  coat  on  that  spice- 
wood  bush,  and  when  you  go  home  your  gar- 
ment carries  the  odor  with  it.  So,  much 
more  one  carries  with  him  something  of  his 
wonderful  teacher's  character  and  man- 
hood." 

"But  you  wouldn't  send  every  boy  to  col- 
lege, would  you?" 

"No,  indeed.  Depends  on  the  boy;  prior 
to  everything  the  raw  material  must  be  good. 
Yet  I  would  like  to  send  every  boy  to  college 
who  hungers  to  know  something  and  be  some- 
thing. But  a  school  of  fish  is  what  we  want 
just  now,"  said  Goldwin,  rising  and  drawing 
in  his  line. 

He  was  .surprised  and  delighted  to  see 
Jonas  throwing  off  his  shell  and  throwing  out 
his  feelers,  although  at  the  same  time  he 
instinctively  felt  that  he  must  be  a  little 
wary  and  not  betray  too  much  surprise  or 
pleasure,  lest  the  boy  should  be  frightened 
and  hastily  retreat  under  his  crust.  As  he 
baited  his  fish  hook  for  a  final  temptation, 
he  said,  "Jonas  I  would  like  to  see  you  on  the 
way  to  college." 

"O,  Mr.   Goldwin,  that's  only  one  of  my 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


dreams.  It'll  do  just  to  talk  about,  but 
please  don't  mention  it  to  anybody.  Please 
don't  Mr.  Gold  win;  it  would  seem  so  ridicu- 
lous." 

"Certainly,  Jonas,  you  can  trust  me  for 
that.  But  then  who  knows?  Perhaps  we 
can  make  a  way  somehow.  College  may  be 
for  you  yet.  At  any  rate,  it'll  do  to  think 
about.  But  the  dark  is  catching  us.  Hadn't 
we  better  haul  in  and  start  for  home?" 

Jonas  went  home  thoughtful,  and  there 
was  a  stir  within  him.  As  for  Mr.  Goldwin, 
he  felt  that  he  had  not  only  been  near  to 
"Nature's  heart,"  but  near  to  the  heart  of 
a  good  boy,  and  that  he  had  thrown  out  a 
line  which  it  were  well  to  watch. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

"Mr.  Barnett,  will  you  please  put  aside  the 
curtains,  and  let  uie  look  at  the  morning?" 

The  night  had  brought  little  refreshment 
to  Pierpont,  and  he  was  glad  to  espy  the  day. 
His  apartment  commanded. a  wide  view;  tall 
hickories  and  maples  and  walnuts  in  the  fore- 
ground casting  their  long  shadows;  in  the 
distance  the  winding  road,  and,  still  beyond 
the  glint  of  the  river;  and  poured  around  all 
the  chatter  and  song  of  a  thousand  merry 
throated  birds;  sight  and  sound  and  atmos- 
phere of  rest  and  beguilement. 

Mr.  Pierpont  for  sometime  looked  and 
listened.  These  venerable  trees,  he  thought, 
with  what  peaceful  and  majestic  grace  they 
wave  their  green  banners,  while  the  sunlight 
streams  in  long  bars  beneath  them,  just  as 
if  this  were  not  a  world  of  accident 
and  tragedy;  insects  revel  in  strident  notes, 
and  birds  in  jubilant  song,  as  if  morning  nev- 
er brought  sorrow  or  pain ;  and  yonder  river, 
ceaseless  river;  its  rythmic  flow  tells  no  tale 
of  destruction  and  death.  An  atom  smites 
us,  a  sliver  pricks  us,  and  we  are  gone;  but 
the  winds  whisper  it  not;  the  sun  still  shines: 
Nature  keeps  step  in  her  unrecking  march  in 
irony  of  our  frailty. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


131 


A  knock  at  the  door  and  Sibyl  appeared, 
bearing  a  tray  smoking  with  appetizing  sub- 
stantials  and  delicacies. 

"Ah,  Sibyl,  you're  a  jewel!  I'm  treated 
like  a  king,  here,"  said  Pierpont  as  he 
extended  his  hand  to  her. 

"Well,  if  you  are  >a  king,  then  I  am  to  be 
cup  bearer  to  the  king,"  said  Sibyl. 

"O,  aiily  for  breakfast!  Pray  tell,  whose 
thought  is  this?"  inquired  Pierpont  as  he 
took  the  flower  from  the  tray. 

"O,  Emily's  of  course!"  said  Sibyl. 

"Well,  now,  that  is  just  perfect.  Please 
thank  her  for  me,  and  tell  her  I  didn't  know 
that  even  a  lily  could  look  so  pure  and  smell 
so  sweet." 

"Hope  the  coffee  '11  suit  you?"  said  Sibyl. 

"Entirely  so.  You  people  here  seem  deter- 
mined to  make  me  fall  in  love  with  my  fate." 

"Seems  to  me,"  said  Barnett,  "I'd  fall  in 
love  with  something  better  than  that. 
Wouldn't  you  Sibyl?" 

"Indeed,  I  would.  Good  bye,"  and  off  she 
danced  to  the  dining  room. 

"Now  Barnett,"  said  Pierpont,  "do  drink 
that  cup  of  coffee  for  me.  I  don't  feel  as 
though  I  could  taste  a  morsel,  but  I  couldn't 
tell  that  blossom,  Sibyl,  so." 

"O,  but  you  must  eat  something.  Try  it," 
said  Barnett;  and  so  urgent  was  he  that  the 
patient  did  make  a  few  sorry  attempts;  but 
soon  gave  over,  and  taking  the  lily  and  turn- 
ing it  over  and  over,  gazed  at  it  with  that 


132 


THE  RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


absent  look  which  saw  Emily  more  than  it 
saw  the  lily.  He  loved  Emily,  and  wrhy  had 
he  not  told  her  so?  True,  he  had  little  to 
offer  her  as  yet,  except  himself.  But  if, 
thought  he,  Emily  Sherburne  is  the  true 
woman  that  I  take  her  to  be,  and  loves  me, 
there's  an  end  of  debate.  At  any  rate  I'll 
plead  my  case  with  my  earliest  release  from 
this  bondage. 

.Meanwhile  at  the  Tupper  breakfast  table 
the  young  people  were  giving  their  several 
versions  of  the  unfortunate  occurrence,  with 
spcial  notes  and  comments.  With  one  voice 
they  extolled  Mr.  Goldwin;  so  quiet,  and  yet 
so  prompt  to  see  what  to  do,  and  especially 
what  not  to  do. 

"Such  a  delicious  hour;  and  to  have  it  end 
so  shockingly,"  said  Emily,  as  she  languidly 
made  pretense  of  breakfasting,  for  appetite, 
she  had  none. 

"Do  you  know,"  said  Isabel,  "my  first 
thought  was  that  you,  Emily,  was  hurt." 

"I  am  not  so  sure  that  Emily  is  not  hurt," 
said  George,  with  an  assumed  air  of  solici- 
tude. "Has  anyone  examined  your  heart, 
coz?" 

"No,  George;  that  was  an  unpardonable 
oversight.  Hadn't  you  better  go  for  Dr. 
Bancroft?" 

Just  then  Sibyl  entered.  "Well  Sib.,  dear, 
how  is  he?"said  Gen.  Tupper,  as  she  gave  him 
her  morning  kiss. 

"O,  he's  chipper,  she  replied.     "But  I  do 


TH1E   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


133 


believe  it's  more  than  half  put  on.  He  looks 
awfully  haggard.  But,  Emily,  that  lily  went 
right  to  the  spot." 

"By  Jove!  I  guess  he  has  an  affection  of  the 
heart,"  said  George. 

Mrs.  Tupper  did  not  fail  to  see  that  Emily 
wore  a  look  of  satisfaction,  and  attempted  no 
evasion  of  the  "soft  impeachment." 

A  few  mornings  later  and  Sibyl,  ever  faith- 
ful in  her  self  appointed  office  of  cup  bearer 
to  the  sick,  bounded  into  the  dining  room 
nearly  breathless,  and  exclaimed,  "W-ho  is 
Mabel?  Who  is  Mabel?  Would  you  believe 
it,  as  I  stepped  into  Mr.  Pierpont's  room,  he 
raised  himself  right  up  and  wildly  called, 
'Mabel,  where  are  you,  Mabel?  Come  to  me. 
Oome  quick,  quick?'  And  then  all  at  once 
he  looked  straight  at  me  and  said,  "Ah!  there 
you  are  Mabel.  Now  you'll  never  go  away; 
stay  with  me,  won't  you;  yes  stay  with  me 
forever!'  Good  land!  But  I  was  stunned! 
But  Mr.  Barnett  said  in  a  low  voice,  'Don't 
be  frightened,  he's  had  a  high  fever  to-night 
and  he's  just  waking,  and  hardly  out  of  his 
dreams.'  And,  sure  enough,  in  a  moment  he 
was  all  right  again,  and  called  me  Sibyl." 

With  this  dramatic  rendition,Sibyl  dropped 
into  her  chair,  and  for  a  moment  in  silence, 
there  were  various  interpretations  of  Sibyl's 
report.  Was  he  worse,  was  he  delirious,  or 
was  it,  as  Mr.  Barnett  intimated,  only  a 
feverish  dream?  Dr.  Bancroft  will  be  in 
soon,  thought  Mrs.  Tupper. 


134 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


"But  who  is  Mabel?  That's  what  I'd  like 
to  know,"  said  Sibyl. 

"Probably  his  dulcinea,"  said  George;  "his 
sweetheart  down  in  New  York.  I  always 
thought  he  had  one  down  there." 

Emily's  face  reddened;  then  she  grew  pale 
with  vexation  because  she  had  blushed. 

When  in  her  own  room,  the  whole  scene 
as  described  by  Sibyl,  together  with  George's 
interpretation,  came  over  her  like  a  night- 
mare. Mr.  Pierpont's  heart  could  never  be 
hers.  It  had  long  been  given  to  another. 
How  foolish,  how  premature  she  had  been. 
And  yet,  she  could  but  feel  that,  whether 
designedly  or  undesignedly,  he  had  given  her 
some  reason  to  hope.  She  could  not  be 
blamed  for  loving  him.  She  could  not  help 
it.  But  that  must  be  her  secret.  She  must 
keep  it.  And  yet  how  could  she  remain  here 
and  keep  it?  She  must  keep  away;  she  must 
go  home.  If  Mr.  Pierpont  really  loved  her 
and  not  another,  a  few  hundred  miles  bet- 
ween them  would  not  prevent  his  avowing 
it. 

Besides,  there  seemed  to  be  a  conspiracy  of 
events  which  she  could  not  overlook.  That 
very  morning  she  had  received  a  letter  from 
her  sister  Ruth,  asking  her  whether  she  was 
not  about  ready  to  come  home;  adding,  "We 
know  you  are  enjoying  every  moment  at 
Uncle's,  and  dear  lonely  Papa  never  says 
come  home;  but  oh!  it  would  do  him  so  much 
giood  to  have  you  with  us  a^ain.  The  house- 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


135 


keeper  is  getting  so  old  and  peevish  and 
obstinate  that  she  can't  control  the  servants, 
and  so  my  poor  little  headship  is  often  called 
upon  to  settle  their  wrangles.  Dear  old 
Mammy,  too,  is  such  a  child,  and,  if  she  sees 
me  step  out  of  the  house,  she  runs  after  me  to 
call  me  back,  just  as  she  used  to  when  I  was 
a  four-year-old.  Both  of  them  will  have  to 
be  put  on  the  retired  list,  and  some  young 
blood  be  set  flowing  in  the  house  of  the  Sher- 
burne's.  All  this  when  you  come  home. 

"Pomp  is  coachman  now,  and  you  ought  to 
see  how  he  inflates  and  swells.  I  am  almst 
mortified  with  his  obsequiousness.  You'd 
smile  out  loud  to  see  him  strut  and  put  on 
airs.  But  he'll  get  over  it.  This  morning 
Dinah  came  out  and  raked  him  down  some- 
what after  this  fashion.  "Se  heah,  Pom  Ran- 
dolph, yo'  big  fool,  done  yo'  know  dem  hosses 
'long  to  Massa  and  de  Lawd;  dey  ain't  your'n 
nohow,  yo'  big  fool.'  And  then  she  chuckled. 

"Pomp  keeps  Papa  out  driving  half  the 
time,  which  I  encourage.  Dear  Papa  Avill  go 
to  the  cemetery  too  often,  and  always  comes 
home  with  that  despairing  look  which  breaks 
my  heart.  If  dear  Mama  had  not  been 
'snatched  from  him  so  suddenly,  and  in  the 
evening  of  his  life  when  he  needed  her  the 
most,  he  might  have  rallied  and  been  himself 
again. 

"Harry  Burnham  calls  quite  often  of  late, 
ostensibly  to  have  an  evening  chat  with  me, 
but,  mind  you,  he  never  leaves  until  he  knows 


136 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


all  that  I  know  about  when  you  are  coming 
home.  With  this  depressing  fact  staring  me 
in  the  face,  don't  you  think  I'm  a  marvel  of 
self-sacrifice  to  wish  you  to  come  home  ? 
But  sub  rosa,  dear  Em,  I  freely  avow  that 
there  isn't  a  better  than  Harry  Buruham  in 
all  Richmond.  He  is  no  longer  tutor  now, 
but  has  a  professorship  and  isn't  a  bit  puffed 
up  over  it.  Papa  thinks  he  smells  a  little 
heresy  about  him,  but  I  call  him  the  stiffest 
kind  of  a  churchman.  Papa,  you  know,  isn't 
much  for  the  new  notions,  and  I  fancy  you'll 
come  home  limbered  up  just  a  little. 

Now,  Em,  dear,  if  this  old  house  on  the  hill 
draws  you  pretty  strongly,  we  shall  none  of 
us  say  nay. 

Your  own  loving, 

RUTH." 

Yes,  Emily  resolved  that  she  would  go 
home.  She  came  to  Riverton  in  search  of 
better  health  and  she  had  found  it.  Indeed, 
she  was  quite  well.  And  she  had  found  a 
good  deal  beside  health.  With  her  fondness 
for  children  and  her  disposition  to  launch 
out  and  try  herself,  she  had  taken  the  school 
in  Riverton  for  a  year,  and  been  very  success- 
ful and  happy  in  it.  She  had  found  a  bles- 
sing, too,  in  helping  the  young  church  and  its 
young  (minister,  and  in  forming  the  acquaint- 
ance of  a  noble,  true-hearted  young  man, 
Daniel  Pierpont.  But  this  latter  she  must 
hide  away  in  the  inner  sanctuarv  of  her  soul. 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER.  137 

With  swift  resolution  she  wrote  to  her  sister, 

"I  am  coming." 

Emily  was  ever  proud  to  say  that  she  was 
born,  nurtured,  and  educated  in  Richmond, 
Virginia.  Blent  with  her  earliest  and  fond- 
est recollections  was  the  boast,  "I  am  a  Vir- 
ginian." How  often  her  father  had  directed 
her  eyes  to  the  capitol,  standing  in  its  gran- 
deur and  majesty  on  the  summit  of  Sho<ckoe 
hill,  a>s  a  most  fitting  symbol  of  the  collossal 
position  occupied  by  Virginia  among  her 
sister  States.  With  a  face  glowing  with 
patriotic  fervor,  he  would  point,  perchance, 
to  the  bronze  figure  of  Jefferson  and  rehearse 
to  his  children  how  that  the  same  hand  which 
drafted  that  immortal  document,  the  Decla- 
ration of  Independence,  designed  likewise 
that  stately  and  venerated  edifice  of  legisla- 
tion. Born  and  reared  almost  under  the  very 
shadow  of  the  imposing  forms  in  marble  or 
bronze  of  Washington,  Patrick  Henry,  Jeffer- 
son, John  Marshall,  and  others  whom  the 
friends  of  man  delight  to  honor,  these  great 
names  were  to  the  Sherburnes,  something 
more  than  names,  more  than  shadows  of  a 
glorious  past, — were  a  living  presence,  a 
mighty  and  beneficent  inspiration. 

Emily's  father,  Captain  Paul  Marion  Sher- 
burne,  was  a  man  of  fortitude,  and  of  uncom- 
plaining spirit,  but  he  had  never  recovered 
from  the  shock  of  losing  his  cultured  and 
beautiful  wife,  who  was  as  good  as  she  was 
beautiful;  one  of  those  who,  in  this  faulty 


138 


THE   RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


world,  keep  "our  faith  in  goodness  strong." 

During  his  active  business  life,  Capt.  S'lier- 
burne  had  been  engaged  in  extensive  shipping 
interests,  for  in  his  day,  Richmond  was  one 
of  the  most  opulent  commercial  emporiums 
of  the  South.  He  was  widely  known  and  as 
widely  respected  as  a  gentleman  of  the  good 
old  type.  For  many  years  the  family  man- 
sion, with  its  attractive  grounds,  had  been 
one  of  the  landmarks  on  Church  Hill,  and 
was  no  great  distance  from  the  venerable  St. 
John's  church,  where,  for  so  many  years,  the 
Sherburnes  had  worshipped.  Often,  while 
seated  in  the  family  pew,  Emily,  as  a  little 
girl,  would  in  thought  wander  away  from 
service  and  sermon,  and  picture  to  herself  the 
Virginia  Convention  of  1775  which  convened 
within  its  walls — sat  in  those  very  seats;  and 
would  imagine  herself  listening  to  Patrick 
Henry  as  he  then  poured  forth  his  fearless 
words,  closing  with,  "Give  me  Liberty  or  give 
me  Death;" — words  which  echoed  not  alone 
within  those  sacred  arches,  but  from  Boston 
to  Charleston,  and  above  the  roar  of  tho 
Atlantic  to  the  throne  of  King  George. 
Here,  too,  thirteen  years  later,  the  colonies, 
now  no  longer  colonies,  but  sovereign  States, 
another  hardly  less  memorable  Virginia  Con- 
vention assembled  wrhich  discussed  and  rati- 
fied the  Federal  Constitution. 

The  thought  of  returning  home  to  Rich- 
mond brought  to  Emily  Sherburne,  with 
almost  painful  distinctness,  the  face  of  one 


THE  RJVERTON  MINISTER. 


dear  inmate  of  that  home,her  invalid  brother, 
now  twenty-six  years  of  age.  If  ever  the 
celestial  Gardener  opened  a  bud  of  rare 
promise,  it  was  at  the  birth  of  Jamie  Sher- 
burne.  Never  was  child  more  welcome, 
never  more  tenderly,  lovingly,  wisely  moth- 
ered. The  babe  grew  and  exhibited  in 
prompt  succession,  all  the  wonders  of  child 
history.  Infancy,  little  beginning  of  immor- 
tality! Kingdom  of  mystery,  new  to  every 
parent!  Sealed  book,  and  no  one  has  been 
found  to  break  the  seal  and  open  the  book. 
Jamie  grew,  —  a  jolly,pranksome,roguish  boy; 
a  little  questioner;  now  and  then  he  would 
put  on  his  little  thinking  cap  and  for  a 
moment  would  actually  look  sober  and 
serious,  and  would  bounce  out  some  problem, 
some  "how"  or  "whence,"  or  flash  out  some 
"cute"  child  saying,  the  puzzle  and  pleasure 
of  the  household.  Little  star  around  which 
the  galaxy  of  home  revolved! 

Was  it  a  careless  nurse  that  allowed  him 
to  fall  from  his  carriage  and  strike  his  head 
upon  the  pave  ment?  Was  it  some  contusion 
of  the  only  too  susceptible  brain?  or  some 
sudden  chill  and  congestion?  any  or  all  of 
these,  who  knoweth?  Jamie  was  suddenly 
very  ill.  The  family  physician  shook  his 
head,  looked  very  apprehensive,  and  whis- 
pered something  of  brain  fever.  For  days 
and  days  Jamie  gave  no  sign  of  recognition 
of  anything.  At  last  he  was  seen  to  turn  his 
head  a  very  little  and  seem  to  follow  with  his 


140 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


eyes  the  spoon  and  cup  from  which  nourish- 
ment was  cautiously  dealt  to  him.  More 
days  passed  and  then  it  was  eagerly  reported 
that  he  opened  his  lips  and  for  once  said 
"Papa." 

Poor  Jamie  had  to  begin  life  over;  had  to 
learn,  for  the  second  time,  slowly  learn  to 
walk  and  to  talk.  But  the  fever  had  left 
lesion  of  the  brain  and  paralysis  of  the  left 
side  of  the  body.  Jamie, now  twenty-six  years 
old,  and  yet  a  child!  Growth  of  body  and 
mind  long  ago  arrested!  There  were  inter- 
vals— days — of  comparative  respite  and  of 
brightness; — enough  to  show  how  much  light 
had  been  eclipsed;  but  there  was  always  sus- 
pended over  the  boy  the  dread  certainty  of 
relapse,  and  the  dread  uncertainty,  the  peril 
of  every  moment. 

Gradually  Jamie's  world  narrowed,  till  it 
finally  was  all  included  within  the  four  walls 
of  home.  He  was  profoundly  affectionate. 
Home  and  its  little  round  were  everything  to 
him,  and  he  clung  to  Papa  and  Mama  as  a 
vine  does  to  the  strong  tree.  He  lived  on  the 
love  and  sympathy  of  the  household,  and  he 
felt  any  seeming  or  supposed  neglect  like  a 
wound.  Conscientious  he  was,  often  mor- 
bidly so.  As  a  rule,  he  was  patient,  and  suf- 
fered in  silence  ;but  occasionally  a  word  would 
escape,  which  told  with  what  horror  he  went 
down  into  the  deep  waters.  Those  long,  long, 
days  of  physical  revulsion  and  of  struggle 
as  with  demons!  Kind  Nature  then  in  part, 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


and.  for  a  time,  drew  a  vail  over  the  senses. 
Often  the  nerves  were  s>orely  taxed  and 
strained,  and  were  as  if  mercilessly  laid  bare; 
and  then  he  would  give  way  to  impatience 
and  ill  impulse;  how  could  it  be  otherwise? 
but  only  to  follow  it  with  bitter  wailing  lest 
he  had  done  wrong,  and  had  spoiled  his  rec- 
ord for  the  day.  It  was  most  pathetic  to 
behold  his  struggles  to  be  good  and  kind 
against  such  odds. 

The  horizon  of  thought  and  memory  grew 
more  narrow  with  the  flow  of  years.  The 
present  made  slight  impression,  soon  effaced. 
More  and  more  he  thought  and  dreamed  in 
the  life  and  memories  of  earlier  days,  which 
had  made  their  record  on  the  senisorium  when 
it  was  still  responsive  and  retentive.  But 
some  faces  and  events  he  never  forgot;  for 
example,  an  Aunt  tenderly  loved,  but  now  of 
long  time  deceased,  and,  later,  his  dear,  dear 
mother  suddenly  taken  to  the  skies,  were 
never  lost  from  his  memory.  Many  a  morn- 
ing when  he  was  fairly  himself,  with  his 
cheery  smile  he  would  say,  "I  dreamed  about 
Auntie,"  or  "I  saw  mama  last  night."  Songs, 
too,  which  he  learned  before  he  was  ten  years 
of  age  he  never  entirely  forgot.  He  retained 
the  sweet  child  voice,  although  it  was  not  so 
strong  as  the  impairing  years  came.  He 
loved  to  go  through  his  little  repertoire  of  a 
score  or  more  of  songs  and  hymns  which  were 
his  favorites,  while  Ruth  or  Emily  accompa- 
nied him  at  the  piano.  When  his  mother 


142 


THE  RIVBBTON  MINISTER. 


came  to  face  the  last,  how  natural,  and  yet 
how  piercing  to  the  soul,  to  hear  her  exclaim, 
"Must  I  go  and  leave  poor  Jamie?"  The  last 
year  of  Jamie's  life  was  darkness,  and  then — 
Light 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Quite  four  weeks  from  the  day  of  the  luck- 
less casualty,  Daniel  Pierpont  hobbled  into 
the  Tupper  sitting  room.  This  made  it  a 
joyous  day  for  all  the  household.  Neverthe- 
less, a  shadow  overhung  them  all,  since 
Emily,  the  universal  favorite,  was  to  leave 
by  the  morrow  morning  stage  for  her  South- 
ern home;  and  a  shadow,  indeed,  it  was  to 
Pierpont  and  to  Emily;  the  deeper,  too, 
because  it  must  be  concealed.  Emily, 
although  a  little  pale,  was  never  more  beauti- 
ful than  that  evening,  but  with  all  her  affa- 
bility and  kindliness,  there  was  a  reserve  and 
forced  composure  and  resoluteness  which 
strong  natures  can  summon  while  they  suffer. 

Mr.  Goldwin  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Barnett  had 
dropped  in  to  offer  congratulations  and  good 
byes,  and  Miss  Sherburne's  departure  was 
so  much  a  regret  to  them  all,  that  it  was  a 
relief  to  have  the  conversation  turn  to  a  sub- 
ject as  far  away  as  last  Sunday's  sermon  on 
Temperance. 

"You  were  particularly  close  and  searching 
in  your  sermon,  Mr.  Goldwin,  but  not  one 
whit  too  much  so,"  said  Mrs.  Tupper. 

"I  found  my  sermon,"  he  replied,  "in  the 
wretched  home  of  John  Barnes.  John  is  nat- 


144 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


urally  a  bright  man,  and  a  kinder  heart  than 
his  doesn't  beat.  But  now  drink  has  made  a 
beast  of  him,  and  he  is  slowly  murdering  his 
poor  wife  he  once  so  fondly  loved,  and  his 
children  will  soon  be  worse  than  orphans. 
When  I  entered  the  room  John  lay  upon  the 
floor  in  one  corner,  just  beginning  to  sleep 
after  a  three  days'  debauch.  Mrs.  Barnes  lay 
upon  her  bed,  haggard,  exhausted,  and  such 
a  picture  of  despair;  and  there  was  the  little 
motherly  Laura  trying  to  comfort  the  fright- 
ened and  sobbing  children;  telling  them 
Papa  would'nt  beat  them  so,  if  it  wasn't  for 
the  naughty  whiskey.  Then  they  begged  of 
me,  "Please,  Mr.  Goldwin,  take  all  the  whis- 
ky out  of  Riverton  before  Papa  wakes  up." 

The  silence  of  deep  emotion  pervaded  the 
group  as  Mr.  Goldwin  continued,  "I  felt  so 
helpless  to  comfort  that  stricken  woman. 
Death  was  facing  her,  and  the  delirium  of 
drink  her  husband.  'Poor  dear  John,'  she 
sighed,  'may  God  forgive  him.  Once  there 
wasn't  a  happier  home  than  ours  in  Riverton. 
But  drink  robbed  us  of  everything.  When  I 
am  gone,  Mr.  Goldwin,  please  do  all  you  can 
for  my  dear,  dear  children.  I  know  you  will, 
and  O,  save  them  from  the  fate  of  their 
parents.'  Then  she  sunk  back  completely 
exhausted,  and  for  a  moment,  I  almost 
thought  she  was  gone. 

And'  what  makes  it  more  shocking,  in 
effect,  that  scene  is  duplicated  in  more  than 
one  home  which  I  have  visited  in  Riverton. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


The  law  sanctioned  by  the  people  of  Kiverton, 
protects  the  drink  shops,  but  where  is  the 
law  which  protects  Mrs.  Barnes  and  her 
children?" 

This  recital  from  Mr.  Goldwin  brought 
tears  to  the  eyes  of  Emily  and  Isabel,  who 
were  good  Samaritans  in  this  and  so  many 
other  homes  of  want  and  sorrow.  Even 
George,  who  vapored  much  about  "personal 
liberty,"  was  silent  and  thoughtful. 

By  this  time  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Grande  had 
dropped  in,  and,  with  how  great  sincerity  it 
is  not  necessary  to  say,  joined  in  the  discus- 
sion of  ways  and  means  of  reform. 

"Of  course  my  hotel  must  have  a  bar,"  said 
the  Colonel  depreciatingly,  "but  how  can  we 
get  rid  of  O'Flannigan's  corner  and  Schnapps 
beer  hole,  and  Elias  Whitcomb's  place,  too; 
for  they  say  he  sells  a  deal  besides  grocer- 
ies— somthing  to  wash  them  down. 

Here  Mr.  Pierpont,  with  a  warmth  and  em- 
phasis which  he  could  poorly  suppress, 
replied  to  Col.  Grande's  weak  protest,  "We 
can  get  rid  of  Schnapps'  and  O'Flannigan's 
and  all  others  of  that  ilk,  just  as  soon  as 
you  and  other  citizens  want  to  get  rid  of 
them."  This  remark  was  reassuring  to  Mr. 
Goldwin,  who  reflected  that  in  Mr.  Pierpont, 
he  had  a  good  soldier  of  temperance. 

As  Mr.  Goldwin  rose  to  go  he  pressed 
Emily's  hand  very  warmly,  saying,  "I  can't 
tell  you  how  much  you  have  helped  me  in 
many  ways.  I  shall  never  forget  how  you 

10 


146 


THE  IIIVEKTON   MINISTER. 


came  to  my  rescue  in  those  first  days  when  I 
tried  to  play  both  preacher  and  chorister." 

General  Tapper  followed  him  to  the  door 
to  say  what  had  been  impressed  on  him  of 
late:  you  are  looking  a  little  worn,  Mr  Gold- 
win.  Ar'n't  you  working  too  hard?" 

"Perhaps  I  am,  General,  and  I  have  been 
thinking  of  late  that  I  would  soon  give  you 
aJl  a  litle  rest  for  a  few  weeks,  and  pay  a  visit 
to  old  Vermont  and  my  good  mother  once 
more."  A  twenty  dollar  gold  piece  just  then 
adroitly  found  its  way  into  the  pastor's  hand ; 
which  meant  "Go,  and  my  blessing  with  you." 
As  Mr.  Goldwin  walked  to  his  room,  he 
smiled  as  he  thought,  "that  twenty  dollar 
piece  will  be  very  lonely  in  my  pocket-book, 
but  it  does  help  to  decide  some  things." 

As  Gen.  Tupper  resumed  his  seat,  George 
was  saying  with  great  animation,  "It  just  did 
me  good  last  Sunday,  when  Mr.  Goldwin, 
without  a  scrap  of  paper  before  him,  poured 
out  the  hot  shot  right  and  left.  No  chance  to 
get  in  my  nap!  Why  can't  he  preach  that 
way  all  the  time?" 

"Your  question  opens  a  pretty  large  sub- 
ject, my  boy,"  said  the  General. 

"With  or  without  paper,"  said  Pierpont, 
"what  surprises  me  is  that  a  man  for  fiftytwo 
Sundays  in  a  year,  can  give  us  two  such  fresh 
and  brainy  sermons  a  week.  Why  we  attor- 
neys think  we  are  doing  famously  if  we  make 
six  or  eight  well  wrought  arguments  a  year." 

"You  lawyers  never  write  your  speeches, 
do  you?"  asked  Sibyl. 


THE  RIVERTQN  MINISTER. 


"No,"  said  Pierpont,  "although  in  the  high- 
er courts  arguments  are  often  submitted  in 
writing.  It  does  us  good  to  face  our  thoughts 
in  writing.  Many  a  plea  never  could  stand 
the  test  of  being  transfered  to  manuscript." 

"After  all,  with  the  lawyer  and  preacher, 
isn't  it  a  question  of  aptitudes,"  said  General 
Tupper.  "Manuscript,  brief,  skeleton  or  no 
skeleton,  a  speaker  must  capture  and  carry 
his  audience;  and  that's  the  long  and  short 
of  it." 

"Yes,  for  instance,"  said  Emily,  "it  sets  one 
all  in  a  fidget  to  hear  our  Dr.  Nicholson,  of 
Richmond,  try  to  speak  without  his  manu- 
script, but  he  talks  grandly  on  paper." 

"When,"  said  Pierpont,  "a  man  sits  down 
to  clothe  his  thoughts  in  pen-and-ink  proprie- 
ty, he  soons  finds  out  whether  he  has  any 
thoughts  to  clothe;"  and  then  with  a  droll 
look  he  added,  "when  I  sat  down  to  write  my 
first  plea,  I  began  by  sharpening  my  new 
pencil,  and  by  the  time  pencil  and  I  had  a 
point,  I  had  no  pencil." 

"Tried  to  make  too  fine  a  point,  perhaps," 
said  the  General. 

Meanwhile  Col.  Grande,  after  laboring  in 
vain  to  make  his  scant  and  frowsy  hair  lie 
still  and  submisive  over  the  bald  top  of  MB 
head,  struck  a  new  attitude  and  rested  his 
hands  on  his  knees  and  studied  the  carpet; 
and  George  winked  to  Pierpont,  for  they 
knew  that  the  Colonel  was  grooming  up  the 
"S.ag<e  of  Ashland"  once  more,  and  with  even 


148 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


half  a  chance  would  trot  him  out. 

"Well,  Colonel,"  said  George,  "tell  us 
what's  on  your  mind." 

"O,"  said  he,  "I  was  only  recalling  the  time 
when  I  heard  Henry  Clay.  But  then  there's 
but  one  Henry  day." 

"But  don't  you  think,"  said  Emily,  "that 
the  lawyer  or  the  politician  has  this  advan- 
tage, that  he  is  in  a  debate?  Its  an  intelect- 
ual  tournament  and  everybody  is  eager  to  see 
the  contest." 

"To  see  who  beats,"  said  Barnett. 

"Yes,  Miss  Sherburne,  I  think  that  is  true," 
said  Pierpont.  "At  the  bar  or  at  the  hust- 
ings, the  fire  is  already  kindled,  indeed,  gener- 
ally is  at  white  heat;  while  in  the  pulpit  the 
minister  must  strike  the  flint  until  he  has 
kindled  a  fire.  And  yet,  with  barrister  or 
clergyman,  or  political  speaker,  I  fancy  it 
is  the  same  universal  principle  of  right, 
which,  after  all,  is  the  orator's  best  grip." 

"One  thing  which  pleases  me,"  said  Mrs. 
Tupper,  "our  minister  is  a  good  reader.  His 
reading  of  the  Bible  is  a  new  interpretation 
of  it  to  me." 

"And  those  good  old  hymns,  too,"  added 
Isabel;  "how  it  does  set  me  on  pins  to  hear 
ministers  sing-song  them,  or  else  rattle  them 
off  like  an  auctioneer." 

"Yes,  reading  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  the 
exact  meaning;  that  is  just  it,"  said  Emily; 
"and  don't  you  think  half  the  commentaries 
and  half  the  pulpit  comments  would  be  super- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


149 


fiuotis,  if  the  minister  simply  read  the  Bible 
with  a  true  spiritual  insight?  It  seems  to 
me  so  often  as  though  the  connection  was 
broken,  and  the  reader  was  not  in  touch  with 
what  he  reads." 

"Ah,  we  all  understand  that  feeling,"  said 
the  General,  "and  there  is  just  one  thing 
which  is  worse,  and  that  is  when  the  Bible 
reader  turns  actor,  or  tries  to  exhibit  his  elo- 
cution. That,  I  do  think,  is  isacreligious." 

"I  never  shall  forget,'  said  Pierpont,  hear- 
ing Fanny  Kimball  read,  'The  Tempest.'  It 
was  like  a  revelation — the  mind  of  Shakes- 
peare himself.  She  read  so  perfectly  that  I 
hardly  knew  she  was  reading." 

"What  I  like  a^bout  Mr.  Goldwin,"  said  Mr. 
Barnett,  "he  has  such  good  sense,  gets  right 
down  to  business,  and  stops  the  mill  the  very 
moment  the  corn  is  ground.  Why,  there  was 
Father  Tomes,  up  in  the  Vermont  hills;  he 
•always  gave  us  so  much  thin  soup  that  we 
never  got  at  the  substantials." 

"All  soup  and  toothpicks,  wasn't  he?"  sug- 
gested George. 

"After  all,  Mr.  Goldwin  lacks  one  thing," 
said  Col.  Grande,  and  shook  his  head  very 
wisely,  as  he  arose  to  leave.  "He'll  never  be 
complete  until  he  has  a  wife." 

"O  that  depends;"  said  the  Tuppers. 

"Yes,  that  depends,"  said  the  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Grande. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

< 
It  was  the  "still  hour"  of  early  morning. 

No  sounds  throughout  the  slumbering  house. 
Mr.  Goldwin  had  quietly  arisen,  and  was 
seated  at  the  window.  His  thoughts,  mean- 
while, were  "taking  the  wings  of  the  morn- 
ing." His  eye  rested  on  what  was,  to  him, 
a  new  scene,  a  tranquil  landscape,  mid  way 
between  Riverton  and  the  hills  of  Vermont. 
Comfortable  villas,  gardens,  orchards,  past- 
ure land®,  and  fields  of  maize,  and  the  yellow 
clay  marking  the  road  which  wound  about, 
sometimes  losit  to  view,  and  then  reappearing 
on  the  brow  of  some  hill;  a  church  spire 
flashing  the  first  sunbeams,  and  a  church 
yard,  gray  with  its  rows  of  little  white  head- 
stones; and  off  to  the  right,  the  roof  just  vis- 
ible above  the  trees,  Holton  Academy — these 
were  some  of  the  features  of  the  landscape 
on  which  Goldwin,  sitting  writh  his  arms  rest- 
ing on  the  window  sill,  was  intently  gazing. 
Thus  far  on  his  way  to  Vermont,  he  was  here 
at  the  hospitable  home  of  Father  Halliday, 
who,  as  pastor,  had,  as  the  Deacon  so  often 
told  the  Lord  in  prayer,  "gone  in  and  out 
before  this  people  for  more  than  a  genera- 
tion." 

Before  leaving  Riverton,  Mr.  Goldwin  had 
received  a  little  package  and   a   newspaper 


THE   RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 


151 


from  Boston.  The  package  contained  letters 
from  Mr.  Goldwin  to  Miss  Marian  Brad- 
4!ock  and  bearing  date  of  several  years  pre- 
TIOUS,  and  accompanying  the  package  was  a 
clipping  from  a  late  issue  of  a  Boston  journal 
which  told  these  grave  words: 

"Died  in  this  city,  June  27th,  Miss  Marian 
Braddock,  late  preceptress  of  Latin  in  the 
Beacon  Street  Classical  School.  The  de- 
ceased had  filled  this  responsible  position 
with  great  acceptability  for  three  years,  and 
had  easily  won  the  high  admiration  and 
esteem  of  all  who  knew  her.  Tims  a  myste- 
rious Providence  has  suddenly  closed  to 
earth  a  life  which  gave  brilliant  promise  of 
years  of  usefulness  and  distinction  as  a 
scholar  and  instructor.  The  body  will  be 
conve3red  to  her  early  home,  Ryeburgh,  Ver- 
mont, where  it  will  be  consigned  to  its  long 
rest.  We  beg  the  privilege  of  mingling  our 
tears  with  those  of  the  aged  and  revered 
parents,  sole  survivons  in  that  hillside  home." 

A  note,  written  evidently  with  a  feeble  and 
trembling  hand,  but  Marian's  own,  accompa- 
nied the  package  of  letters: 
"Dear  John: 

The  friends  who  are  about  me  tell  me  that 
I  am  not  'Seriously  ill;  but  something  in  my 
own  heart  tells  me  that  I  shall  never  rise 
from  this  bed.  These  letters  you  wrote  to 
me  in  whia/t  seems  to  me  now  the  long  'ago, 
were  then,  and  always  have  been,  a  sacred 
possession.  I  can  not  devstroy  them;  I  cannot 


152 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


think  of  their  falling  under  any  eyes  but 
yours.  Dear  John,  I  was  not  worthy  of  you. 
I  knew  it  then  and  tenfold  more  do  I  know  it 
now.  God  bless  you,  John,  and  good  bye. 

MARIAN." 

Seismal  convulsions  have  oftened  opened 
springs  that  had  long  been  closed.  Those 
letters  and  that  last  of  earth  to  Marian  Brad- 
dock  revived  an  old  fountain  in  Goldwin's 
heart.  He  pondered  the  ever  changeful,  ever 
new  mystery  of  life-histories.  How  different, 
thought  he,  it  might  have  been.  Their  desti- 
nies, -how  near  they  ran;  two  ships  touching 
and  interchanging  and  then  diverging  for  all 
the  future.  'Man  deviseth,  but  Another 
directeth,"  said  Goldwin,  "and  let  me  be 
lapped  in  the  wisdom  and  love  of  that  Dispo- 
ser." 

With  a  heart  serene  as  this  August  morn- 
ing, Mr.  Goldwin  was  looking  upon  the 
sunburnished  landscape;  looking  and  yet  not 
looking.  In  that  pensive  hour  he  was 
traversing  one  sacred  field  of  memory,  care- 
fully enclosed  and  guarded,  where  foot  of 
mortal,  save  his  own  and  one  other,  never 
pressed.  In  it  now  stood  a  stone  of  memo- 
rial, and  on  it  grew  an  amaranthine  wreath 
to  the  remembrance  of  Marian  Braddock. 
Time  had  borne  him  on,  guided  and  sheltered 
in  the  Eternal  Wisdom,  but  that  landmark 
remained.  Life  had  grown  richer,  fuller;  and 
with  chastened,  but  deeper  emotions,  now, 
he  looked  upon  the  landscape  of  existence. 


THE   RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


153 


It  had  a  profounder  interpretation  than  when 
he  first  passed  that  way  mark. 

Father  Halliday  and  wife  thoroughly  be- 
lieved that  it  was  not  good  for  man  or  woman 
to  be  alone.  Now  a  niece  of  the  revered  pas- 
tor was  teaching  in  the  Hoi  ton  Academy; 
had  been  teaching  for  several  years;  quite 
years  enough,  as  he  and  his  second  agreed. 
"Time  Jane  Elizabeth  had  been  paired  off. 
Here's  this  Mr.  Goldwin— a  rare  man,  unex- 
ceptionable, who  knows  but  there  is  a  Provi- 
dence in  his  •coming  at  this  time.  Who 
knows  but  this  may  be  his  Padanaram." 

"Or  mount  of  sacrifice,"  archly  suggested 
his  wife. 

"No,  no,  my  dear;  here  the  well-side  where 
he  shall  meet  his  Kachel.  Now  the  next 
thing  is  to  bring  these  two  people  together. 
Wife,  why  not  send  around  to  Jane  Elizabeth 
inviting  her  to  tea  this  evening." 

"Very  well,  husband;  we'll  do  that,  and 
while  we  are  about  it,  why  not  ask  Miss  How- 
ard and  the  Principal,  Mr.  Everett?  I  would 
rather  get  a  supper  for  four  visitors  than  for 
two." 

"Very  good,  my  dear;  do  so.  Margaret 
Howard  will  do  finely  as  a  foil  to  set  off  Jane 
Elizabeth — serves  well  as  an  accompani- 
ment." 

Six  o'clock.  The  sun,  having  borne  him- 
self openly  for  a  day,  was  retiring  behind 
curtains  of  dappled  glory,  and  the  carryall 
of  the  Holton  Academy  held  up  at  the  parson- 


154 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


«ge.  Mr.  Everett  alighted;  a  sleek,  precise, 
methodical  gentleman  of  about  thirty-five 
summers;  then  came  Miss  Howard,  some  ten 
years  his  junior,  whom  Mr.  Everett  handed 
down  with  marked  deference  and  gallantry, 
as  thougih  he  quite  enjoyed  the  privilege. 

Miss  Applefbee,  for  omce  the  last  to  alight, 
was  on  terra  firma  before  Mr.  Everett  could 
so  much  as  give  her  a  hand,  albeit,  that 
worthy  gentleman  turned  himself  about  as 
quickly  as  a  man  could,  circumvallated  as  he 
was  in  a  great  stock  and  high  collar.  Miss 
Applebee  presented  a  tall  and  rather  broad 
form,  erect  and  a  little  more,  in  a  bright  terra 
cotta  colored  gown,  not  unlike  the  hue  of  her 
hair  which  rolled  in  thick  folds  around  an 
aspiring  knot  on  the  top  of  iher  head,  and  lay 
in  serpentine  waves  over  her  smooth  and 
retreating  forehead,  which  rested  on  high 
abutting  eyebrows,  under  wihich  lurked  large 
gray  eyes;  sometimes  you  would  have  said 
they  were  dark  eyes,  and  always  piercing  as 
bayonets.  In  or  out  of  the  school  room,  it 
Was  Miss  Applebee's  nature  and  preference 
to  take  the  lead.  She  was  the  school  mis- 
tress, pronounced  and  dogmatic  everywhere. 
A  habit  she  had  of  punctuating  her  remarks 
with  a  light  half  developed  laugh,  which,  at 
first  not  unpleasant,  was  thrown  in  so  pro- 
miscously  as  soon  to  become  humdrum  and 
rasping.  Her  pupils,  indeed,  had  come  to 
look  upon  this  conciliatory  titter,  or  "refined 
giggle"  as  they  half  ironically  .styled  it,  as 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


155 


the  precursor  of  some  axe  she  wished  them 
to  grind  for  her.  Bhe  often  seemed  conspic- 
uously kind;  although,  not  unlike  some 
others,  her  kindness  generally  proved  to  be 
well  aimed  at  some  ulterior  end. 

A  few  personalities  and  formalities,  and  as 
the  ice  began  to  crack,  the  little  company 
drew  around  the  tea  table,  and  there  was  a 
general  thaw,  and  every  atom  of  congealment 
floated  aiway.  Blessings  on  tea!  Great  social 
benefactor.  What  intrenchment  of  silence 
or  reserve  can  resist  its  benign  warmth. 
Blessed  potation,  which  Miss  Applebee  said, 
"cheered,  but  did  not  inebriate,"  and  sipped 
her  second  cup.  The  conversation  ambled 
along,  touching  lightly  and,  of  course,  eulo- 
gistically,  on  Mrs.  Halliday's  light  biscuit, 
cold  tongue,  jellies,  sponge  cake  and  cream 
custard;  touching  also  lightly,  if  not  eulogist- 
icaliy  on  politics  and  the  state  of  the  nation, 
wherein  Prof.  Everett  stood  alone  in  the  role 
of  champion  of  Andrew  Jackson;  then  they 
alighted  on  such  themes  as  temperance, 
slavery,  and  education, — ways  and  means 
thereof. 

Here  were  counter  currents,  mild  little 
eddies.  For  as  soon  appeared,  Miss  Apple- 
bee  was  sworn  enemy  to  co-education  beyond 
the  academy.  Promiscous  schools  for  more 
advanced  pupils,  she  declared  to  be  little 
short  of  heathenish.  To  this  Mr.  G-oldwin 
ventured  a  demurrer,  and  drew  upon  him- 
self those  bayonet  gleams. 


RIVERTON  MINISTER. 
X 

"We  are,"  said  .he,  "all  accustomed  to  think 
that  home  the  more  fortunate  where  there 
are  both  brothers  and  sisters."  A  proposi- 
tion to  which  Prof.  Everett  bowed  a  ready 
acquiescence;  that  is  so  far  as  his  broad  stock 
and  high  collar  would  allow,  for  the  latter, 
like  two  white  knives  held  his  ears  in  constant 
menace  of  abridgment.  Miss  Howard,  too, 
whose  home  had  in  it  many  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, quite  cordially  confirmed  Mr.  Goldwin's 
pleasant  illustration. 

"And  I  think,"  Mr.  Goldwin  proceeded  to 
say,  "that  this  compulsory  sundering  of 
young  ladies  and  gentlemen  in  the  great  work 
of  education  is,  to  say  the  least,  somewhat 
unnatural." 

"O,  Mr.  Goldwin,"  said  Miss  Applebee, 
"you  can  have  no  idea  how  such  a  school 
and  college  system  would  degenerate.  The 
freedom  would  be  misused.  Why  right  "here 
in  Holton  Academy,  I  have  had  iny  opinion 
confirmed.  My  own  sister,  Annie,  had  not 
been  in  the  school  a  whole  term  before  there 
was  a  young  man  at  her  heels,  and  he  kept 
at  her  heels  till  both  he  and  she  bad  finished 
the  course,  and  then  of  course  they  had  to 
get  married." 

This  was  too  much  for  the  equanimity  of 
Father  Halliday.  "Now  Jane  Elizabeth," 
said  he,  bringing  his  fist  down  on  the  table, 
"there  never  was  a  better  behaved  girl  in 
Holton  Academy  than  Annie  Applebee,  and 
the  young  man  you  are  berating  stood  first  in 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


157 


his  class  in  morals  and  scholarship,  and  if 
ever  there  was  a  match  made  in  Heaven,  that 
was." 

"Thank  you,  Father  Halliday,"  said  Mr. 
Goldwin,  "you  are  reaching  the  very  point 
I  wanted  to  emphasize.  A  young  man  and 
a  young  woman  trained  in  the  same  school, 
and  having  similar  tastes  and  acquirements, 
have  rare  opportunity  to  know  each  other 
thoroughly,  and  when  they  come  to  marry, 
it  is  no  venture  into  an  unknown  sea." 

Miss  Applebee  glowered  and  Miss  How- 
ard's eyes  'twinkled. 

"Nevertheless,"  said  the  immovable  Miss 
Applebee,  "I  maintain  my  position  that  the 
freedom  would  be  misused." 

"In  some  cases,  doubtless,  it  would  be," 
said  Mr.Goldwin.  Everything  good  is  abused. 
Nevertheless,  give  us  liberty;  freedom  is  in 
many  cases  the  best  cure  for  its  abuse.  Arti- 
ficial and  unnatural  restrictions  beget  abnor- 
mal results;  very  often  instigate  the  very 
conduct  that  they  are  designed  to  preclude. 
However,this  word  co-education  is  only  just 
coming  into  our  vocabulary,  but.it  contains 
a  truth  which  is  bound  to  make  its  way.  Our 
seminaries  and  colleges  which  are  limited  to 
one  sex  are  doing  a  grand  work,  and  there 
will  long  be  room  for  them." 

"What  I  would  like  to  plead  for,"  said  Miss 
Howard,  "is  that  the  door  should  be  opened 
to  woman  into  our  highest  institutions  of 
learning — our  best  colleges  and  universities. 


158 


THE  RFVERTON  MINISTER. 


To  be  sure,  at  first  not  many  women  would 
enter  these  institutions,  but  the  opportunity 
would  itself  be  a  grand  incentive.  This  sub- 
ject is  one  on  which  Miss  Applebee  and  I 
have  had  many  a  sharp  discussion." 

"Your  face  is  toward  the  morning,  Miss 
Howard,"  said  Mr.  Groldwin;  "I  hope  you  will 
keep  right  on  pleading  for  the  privileges 
which,  in  fairness,  belong  alike  to  both  men 
and  women. 

"What  a  demoralizing  effect  it  does  have 
on  some  men  to  go  West,"  said  Miss  Apple- 
bee.  "I  am  thinking  what  a  paradise  of  fools 
and  wild  eyed  cranks  you  would  have." 

"O,"  said  Mr.  Groldwin,  "fanatics  and  hob- 
byists jump  on  to  every  new  reform.  Barna- 
cles love  good  timber.  Where's  the  good 
cause  which  does  not  suffer  from  selfish  and 
sinister  retainers?" 

"Flies  gather  where  the  sweets  are  thick- 
est," said  the  good  housewife,  Mrs.  Halliday. 

"Now  don't  let  me  be  misunderstood,"  said 
Mr.  Goldwin.  "I  know  that  I  occupy 
advanced  ground,  but  all  I  would  say  is,  give 
woman  her  chance  and  her  place  which  is 
beside  man;  each  free  and  neither  complete 
"without  the  other." 

"That's  it;  that's  it,"  said  Father  Halliday 
and  the  Professor,  although  neither  of  them 
appeared  to  realize  the  full  import  of  that  to 
which  they  so  readily  assented. 

The  lustre  of  tea  table  vivacity  hardly 
seemed  to  belong  to  Prof.  Everett.  In  speech 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


and  manners,  lie  labored  to  be  preeminently 
proper.  He  was  a  routinest.  Certain  text 
books  he  could  repeat,  verbatim,  and  when 
the  conversation  led  to  it,  he  could  give  you 
axioms  and  round  periods  from  Adam  Smith 
or  Ricardo  or  Locke  or  Brown,  and  so  ap- 
pear very  sage  and  philosophic.  But  as  for 
evolving  anything  from  his  own  mind,  any 
reflections  which  'had  a  personal  flavor,  like 
apples  which  have  extracted  a  peculiarly  rich 
flavor  from  the  rich  soil  —  as  well  expect  to 
gather  oranges  from  fence  posts,  or  to  spear 
whales  in  Sahara.  His  pupils  thought  him 
a  man  of  prodigous  learning,  and  the  trustees 
of  the  school  pronounced  him  to  be  a  very 
superior  instructor.  And  judged  'by  a  com- 
mon standard,  so  he  was.  Take  him  any- 
where outside  of  his  daily  beat,  and  he  was 
a  vaccuum.  'His  one  talent  he  kept  wrapped 
in  a.  napkin  of  routine.  Miss  Applebee's  glib 
command  of  humdrum  exactly  suited  him, 
and  her  repertoire  of  familiar  quotations 
charmed  him.  Miss  Howard's  mental  fresh- 
ness and  ideality  were  lost  on  him.  Native 
talent  he  would  carefully  prune  away  as  only 
a  superfluity. 

Why  is  it  that  persons  favored  with  educa- 
tional advantages,  and,  it  'may  be,  by  their 
calling  supposed  to  -move  'amid  thoughts  and 
truths  and  knowledge,  often  talk  together  for 
a  half  hour  and  reac'h  nothing  beyond  mere 
talk  and  triteness?  What  a  dull  time  their 
recording  angel  must  have.  Is  it  that  they 


160 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


are  so  very  chary  of  their  better  thoughts,  or 
is  it  that  they  have  no  thoughts? 

In  conversation,  Miss  Applebee  sprinkled 
quotations,  like  flowers  strewn  here  and  there 
amid  grasses  and  weeds;  some  of  them  long 
withered,  dessica/ted;  flowers  plucked  from 
foreign  gardens;  not  those  which  had  planted 
themselves,  nor  those  which  she  had  planted 
and  grown  until  they  had  become  a  part  of 
her  own  lawn  and  garden  plot.  Her  coup- 
lets, wise  saws,  borrowed  phrases  and  etcet- 
eras, were  sufficient  to  scintilate  one  or  two 
occasions  without  being  dulled  by  reintroduc- 
tion,  but  to  the  close  observer,  they  were  too 
much  like  ornaments  puttied  on  to  a  wooden 
figure  head.  Thoughts,  felicitous  concep- 
tions and  reflections,  ones  own  and  others, 
which  interwined  and  interrooted  and  grew 
because  they  must  grow  and  loved  to  grow; 
these  neither  she  nor  the  Professor,  nor  the 
veteran  pastor  of  Holton  possessed;  or  if  they 
did  possess  them,  they  had  laid  them  away 
so  carefully  that  they  were  unable  to  find 
them.  Some  persons  are  a  garner  house  of 
facts  and  data;  touch  them  where  you  will, 
you  learn  something.  And  now  and  then 
there  is  one  who  has  pierced  beyond  this  out- 
ter  shell  of  fact;  he  has  that  imagination,  that 
vision  of  the  ideal,  the  real,  which  thinks  and 
sees,  revels  in  its  own  discoveries  and  crea- 
tions, and  imparts  to  all  thoughts  its  own 
individual  stamp.  To  converse  with  such  a. 
mind  is  to  banquet  with  the  gods. 


THE  EIVBETON  MINISTER. 


161 


As  the  evening  wore  on,  Mrs.  Halliday  and 
Miss  Applebee  put  their  heads  together  over 
some  mutters  pertaining  to  the  church  sewing 
society,  and  Father  Halliday  and  Prof. 
Everett  were  exchanging  platitudes  and  sup- 
posing they  were  practicing  the  high  art  of 
conversation. 

Mr.Goldwin,in  the  meantime,  chatted  with 
Miss  Howard.  He  was  amused  and  gratified 
to  find  so  much  enthusiasm  and  high  ideal 
under  that  quiet  exterior.  Instead  of  the 
trifles  and  -small  ambitions  which  fill  the  life 
of  so  many  women,  she  was  absorbed  in  her 
one  work  of  teaching,  which  to  her  was  no 
mere  routine  or  machine  work,  nor  any  mere 
literary  bespattering,  but  was  no  less  than 
mind  and  character  growing;  leading  the 
young  pupil  into  a  life-long  enrichment  and 
enriching.  Her  brown  eyes  were  wonder- 
fully 'expressive,  her  whole  face  beamed,  as 
she  spoke  of  those  studies  which  hardly  more 
than  are  opened  to  their  first  page  in  the 
academy,  little  more,  indeed,  in  this  brief 
academy  existence — human  life;  spoke,  too, 
of  her  classes,  of  minds  just  catching  a  hint 
of  the  dawn,  and  of  selectest  personal  histo- 
ries now  in  the  making.  And  how  she  lis- 
tened enwrapt,  her  whole  soul  in  her  eyes, 
as  she  led  Mr.  Goldwin  into  a  narrative  of 
his  pioneer  toils  in  the  West,  of  the  forces 
contending  for  the  mastery  in  those  rushing 
communities,  of  his  difficulties  and  obstacles, 
his  pleasant  discoveries,  and  his  large  cheer 

it 


162 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


and  hope.  He  thought,  as  he  conversed  with 
Miss  Howard,  "Here  is  the  lofty  imagination 
and  spiritual  vision  for  greatest  things;  the 
very  stuff  for  the  heroic.'' 

After  their  guests  were  gone,Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Halliday  sat  hand  in  hand  by  the  open  win- 
<}tt:\.  1  x'h'iiijr  out  into  the  moon  light,  just  as 
tiu'v  bad  done  fifty  years  before  when  life 
was  young.  As  they  reviewed  the  evening, 
on  the  whole  they  were  pleased.  Mr.Goldwin, 
as  both  agreed,had  borne  his  part  most  cred- 
tiafoly.  "Fortunately,"  said  Father  Halliday, 
''Miss  Howard  was  unusually  reserved,  so 
that  Jane  Elizabeth  had  the  field,  and  I  think 
Mr.  Goldwin  must  see  that  she  is  a  woman 
who  has  opinions  and  knows  how  to  express 
them."  Mrs.  Halliday  assented  mildly,  hav- 
ing her  own  view  of  JaneElizabeth's  opinions. 
"As  they  were  leaving,"  said  Mrs.  Halliday, 
"I  noticed  that  she  invited  Mr.  Goldwin  to 
take  tea  with  her  at  the  academy  to-morrow 
night." 

"Did  she?  That'  a  good  stroke.  You  see, 
wife,  we  have  set  the  ball  rolling  in  the  right 
direction.  Providence  will  take  care  of  it 
now." 

"Yes,  husband,  I  don't  see  that  Providence 
needs  any  more  of  our  help." 

For  two  Sabbaths  Mr.  Goldwin  supplied 
the  pulpit  in  Holton.  Father  Halliday  very 
much  enjoyed  his  assistance.  Mr.  Gold  win's 
direct  way  of  presenting  his  thoughts,  his 
Western  freedom  and  informality,  bespoke  ' 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


163 


attention,  and  started  mind  and  heart.  It 
was  a  change  from  the  usual  Sunday  fare  at 
Holton.  Tlhere  was  no  disguising  the  fact 
that,  with  'advancing  years,  Father  Halliday 
had  grown  tame  and  juiceles'S.  His  truisms 
together  with  his  dogmas,  hewn  and  squared 
in  a  former  generation,  although  of  some 
avail  once,  were  rather  unsatisfactory  and 
wearisome  to  the  wide  awake  and  question- 
ing youth.  Henry  Grimes,  just  home  from 
an  Eastern  college,  called  Father  Halliday's 
sermons  old  straw  threshed  over  for  half  a 
century.  Mr.  Goldwin's  studies  in  the  Bible, 
and  in  every  day  life,  gave  him  sermons  at 
first  hand,  and  they  had  the  charm  of  the  real. 
Even  old  Deacon  Jones,  who  for  years,  had 
been  one  of  the  sound  sleepers  of  the  church, 
listend  with  mouth  wide  open.  Merchant 
Clark  said,  "he  gives  us  something  to  think 
about,"  and  young  Mr.  Stover  said,  "He  puts 
things  so  that  we  can  see  them."  Philip 
Griswold,  son  of  the  rich  man  of  the  town, 
loved  "short  graces  and  long  dinners,"  and 
lounged  indolently  into  church  and  bestowed 
his  patronizing  smile.  Even  he  condescend- 
ed to  say  that  "Mr.  Goldwin  was  wise  enough 
not  to  attempt  to  exhaust  his  subject,  and  so 
never  exhausted  his  hearers."  Father  Hal- 
liday 'had  'given  his  strength  and  more  than 
half  his  days  to  doing  good  in  Holton.  Some 
always  remembered  this  with  gratitude; 
some  forgot  it  and  ill  judged  him. 

The  young  ministerial  guest,  in  company 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


with  the  parson  and  his  worthy  lady,  was 
invited  out,  dined  and  tead  among  the  dames 
and  damsels  of  Holton.  Often  Miss  Apple- 
bee  and  Miss  Howard  were  also  guests  on 
these  occasions.  Mr.  Goldwin  soon  knew  all 
the  roads  of  the  vicinage,  and  they  all  seemed 
to  lead  to  the  Holton  Academy.  The  pupils 
thought  him  extremely  devoted  to  their 
school  library,  and  some  wondered  whether 
that  were  really  the  center  of  his  devotion. 
Miss  Applebee  expatiated  in  her  sweetest 
halfjgrown  laugh  on  his  remarkable  Interest 
in  the  school. 

It  chanced  that  on  the  last  evening  which 
Mr.  Goldwin  was  to  spend  in  Holton,  he  and 
the  teachers  of  the  academy  were  invited  to 
an  evening's  visit  with  Deacon  and  Mrs. 
Jones  and  their  fair  daughters.  Pastor  Hal- 
lid  ay  then  suggested  that  as  the  academy 
"bang  about"  was  not  the  most  comfortable, 
nor  over  roomy,  Mr.  Goldwin  would  do  well 
to  take  the  parsonage  horse  and  buggy,  witli 
one  of  the  young  lady  teachers  as  a  compan- 
ion. 

"Thank  you,  Father  Halliday,"  said  Mr. 
Goldwin,  "your  offer  is  very  kind  and  most 
opportune.  Nothing  would  suit  me  better." 

Father  Halliday  reflected  that  nothing  suit- 
ed him  better,  for  hadn't  he  heard  Jane 
Elizabeth  less  than  a  week  ago  declare  that 
matrimony  was  a  deplorable  state  of  bond- 
age, and  that  she  was  sure  she  should  never 
put  her  foot  into  it?  This  remark  was  reas- 


THE  RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


165 


suring  to  Father  Halliday  for  he  had  noticed 
that  m'aidens,  young  and  old,  who  talked  thus 
derisively  of  marriage,  were  the  first  to  sur- 
render to  the  tender  passion,  and  further- 
more, he  had  noticed  that  Mr.  Goldwin  had 
spent  several  long  evenings,  of  late,  at  the 
academy. 

Now  Deacon  Jones  hospitable  home  was 
by  direct  road  two  miles,  and  by  a  more 
circuitous  route  four  miles,  from  the  village; 
and  Mr.  Goldwin,  on  this  occasion,  concluded 
that  the  longest  road  would  be  the  shortest, 
much  to  the  disgust  of  the  parson's  horse,  he 
being  sure  that  he  knew  the  shortest  road  to 
the  good  Deacon's  oat  bin. 

The  evening  wore  on,  and  the  other  guests 
were  arrived,and  the  question  went  around, 
"Wihat  has  become  of  Mr.  Goldwin  and  his 
lady?"  Just  then  the  couple  were  an- 
nounced. "So  glad  to  see  you,  you  are  so 
late  that  we  began  to  fear  something  serious 
had  happened  to  you;"  said  several  voices. 
Mr.  Goldwin  felt  pretty  sure  that  something 
had  happened  to  them;  but  for  all  the  charges 
of  being  tardy,  the  parson's  horse  came  in  as 
the  scape  goat,  for  wasn't  he  old  and  opin- 
ionated and  a  slow-goer?  Miss  Applebee 
smiled  most  mysteriously  and  said  "she  had 
long  thought  the  people  ought  to  present 
Father  Halliday  with  a  swifter  horse,  and 
now  she  was  sure  of  it."  Deacon  Jones 
thought  that  their  faithful  veteran  minister 
no  difficulty  in  coining  around  prompt- 


166 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


ly,  and  that  there  must  be  a  difference  in 
drivers."  Prof.  Everett  thought  that  Mr. 
Goldwin  would  do  better  if  he  let  the  lady 
drive.  Mr.  Goldwin  quite  enjoyed  the  merri- 
ment, even  though  it  was  at  his  expense,  and 
helped  on  the  jesting  famously.  His  repar- 
tee was  remarked  as  unusually  felicitous. 

As  the  young  minister  and  his  lady  com- 
panion rode  homeward,  the  clouds  were  scur- 
rying over  the  face  of  the  sky,  and  the  stars 
gleamed  fitfully.  But  it  is  very  doubtful 
whether  the  occupants  of  the  clerical  vehicle 
could,  if  questioned,  have  given  on  that  even- 
ing any  very  coherent  description  of  the  earth 
or  the  sky.  Perhaps  they  fancied  they  were 
neither  of  earth  or  sky,  but  floating  delic- 
iously  somewhere  between.  One  thing  they 
knew,  henceforth  they  were  pledged  to  e"ach 
other  for  life. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A  few  weeks  have  passed,  and  with  them 
is  passing  the  glory  of  summer.  Nature  is 
painting  in  -gorgeous  suncolors,  and  Love  is 
casting  colors  still  more  beautiful  and  more 
unfading  over  two  lives  that  henceforth  are 
one. 

Mr.Goldwin  had  spent  a  month  in  Vermont 
visiting  his  beloved  mother,  and  renewing 
the  memories  and  delights  of  his  youth. 
Thomas  he  missed,  who  was  now  somewhere 
in  the  then'  far  West,  and  Arthur  was  just 
graduated  from  college.  John,  the  River- 
ton  minister,  gave  his  Sabbaths  to  supplying 
a  pulpit  in  Rowland.  "Why  can  we  not 
secure  this  young  man  with  us  permanently ?" 
said  his  hearers.  But  in  vain  did  they  sug- 
gest this.  Mr.  Goldwin's  heart  was  in  the 
far  West,  and  lingered  at  Riverton.  Again 
he  said  what  he  had  so  often  said  before,  "No, 
I  must  work  where,  if  I  do  not  go,  the  work 
will  be  left  undone. 

That  which  sometime  conies  to  us  all,  and 
which  rounds  and  perfects  the  orb  of  life,  had 
come  to  two  more  mortals.  Letters  from 
Vermont,  letters  in  a  strange  and  masculine 
hand  had  come  for  the  last  month  by  swift 
an>d  regular  post,  to  Miss  Margaret  Howard. 


168 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


How  much  she  learned  from  those  letters! 
They  led  her  into  a  deeper  and  more  vital 
acquaintance  with  her  affianced  than  even  his 
personal  presence  and  conversation  had  done. 
Was  she  sometimes  lost  to  everything  around 
her;  her  eyes  beholding  something  far,  far 
away;  her  heart  travelling  on  swift  wings  of 
fancy,  'her  imagination  building  beautiful 
worlds  in  her  future?  Did  some  of  her  pu- 
pils and  fellow  teachers  discern  this?  She 
was  drinking  of  the  overflowing  goblet  of 
wedded  troth.  A  new  light  shone  in  her 
face,  and  a  larger  meaning  and  loftier  elo- 
quence were  in  her  daily  teachings.  Love 
enriches  all  true  souls.  In  all  practical 
trivalties  the  pupils  referred  to  Miss  Apple- 
bee;  but  when  they  had  any  serious  difficulty, 
any  life  trouble,  they  sought  out  Miss  How- 
ard. Her  sympathy,  insight,  and,  sincere 
fellow  interest  gave  her  just  the  ministry  for 
each  tried  heart.  How  they  mourned  her 
departure  from  the  school;  but  Prof.  Everett, 
with  his  accustomed  equanimity  and  stiffness 
bowed  his  acquiescence,  and  said  that  matri- 
monial engagements  superseded  all  others, 
and  said  that  they  might  as  well  bend  grace- 
fully before  the  inevitable,  and  especially, 
now  that  a  dear  friend  of  Miss  Howard  had 
been  secured  to  step  at  once  into  'her  place. 

It  was  not  without  a  struggle  that  Miss 
Howard  gave  up  her  position  in  the  school. 
It  afforded  the  work  she  had  deliberately 
chosen  because  of  its  extra  opportunities  for 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


doing  good,  and  at  first  she  revolted  from 
any  suggestion  of  abandoning  her  espoused 
life  work.  This  disposition,  however,  only 
drew  the  young  minister  the  more  strongly 
toward  her. 

Miss  Howard  was  a  neat,  agile  body,  above 
medium  stature,  hair  soft  and  brown,  eyes 
t'hat  everybody  loved  to  look  into,  drooping 
eyelasihes  under  which  harbored  sympathy, 
benevolence,  intellectual  alertness,  fun  and 
fire;  cheeks  of  that  fine  flesh  tint  which  is  the 
admiration  and  despair  of  artists,  thin  and 
well  molded  lips,  firm  mouth  and  a  round, 
plump  chin  wihic'h  was  enlivened  with  a 
coquetis'h  hint  of  a  dimple.  "She  isn't  a 
beauty,  I  suppose,  mother,"  said  John  Gold- 
win,  "to  anybody  but  me.  Tihose  who  meet 
her  are  drawn  to  her  and  sihe  holds  them. 
Her  energy  is  almost  unbounded  and  I  only 
fear  it  will  carry  her  beyond  her  strength." 

One  day  soon  after  Mr.  Goldwin  had  left 
Holton  for  the  East,  Father  Halliday  came  in 
from  a  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  acade- 
my with  an  unusually  quick  step,  and  an 
excited  manner. 

"What's  the  matter,  dear?"  said  his  wife. 
"What's  happened?  Any  news?" 

"Yes,  news  enough  for  one  day.  Miss 
Howard's  sent  in  her  resignation,  trustees 
have  accepted  it,  and  she's  going  home;  more 
than  that,  rumor  says  she's  engaged  to  Mr. 
Goldwin  and  they  are  soon  to  be  married." 

"Indeed!  Really!"  said  Mrs.  Halliday, 
"now  that  is  news  to  you,  isn't  it?" 


170 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


"Sarah,  do  you  mean  to  say  that  It  isn't 
news  to  you?" 

"No,  dear,  not  exactly,  but  I  can't  say  that 
its  unexpected;  and  who  could  better  it? 
What  is  it  ab'out  the  best  laid  schemes  of 
mice  and  men?" 

"Wife,"  said  laughing  Father  Halliday, 
"that  isnt  in  the  Bible,  but  its  true  as  preach- 
ing. Providence  rather  outwitted  us  this 
time." 

"Yes,  husband,  Providence,  or  Mr.  Goldwin 
or  both." 

"After  all,"  said  Father  Halliday,  "Mr. 
Goldwin  is  the  one  to  be  suited,  and  Miss 
Howard  is  a  gem — no  disputing  that." 

At  the  home  of  Miss  Howard,  Father  Halli- 
day pronounced  the  solemn  words  which 
sealed  the  union.  The  brothers  and  sisters 
and  Miss  Applebee  and  Mrs.  Halliday  and 
one  or  two  old  family  friends  were  interested 
witnesses.  But  easily  first  among  them  all 
was  Mother  Howard,  beautiful  in  that  lovli- 
ness  which  only  experience  and  divine  faith 
can  give.  She  thought  of  the  dear  husband 
now  for  many  years  among  the  shining  ones, 
and  wondered  whether  he  was  looking  upon 
this  scene.  Forgive  her  if  in  this  hour  sihe 
was  so  lonely.  She  had  given  her  approval 
and  blessing  to  all  Margaret  had  done;  and 
yet,  who  dare  remonstrate,  if  to  give  up  what 
seemed  her  selectest  daughter  to  go  into  the 
far  West,  so  remote,  and,  -as  it  was  then,  so 
difficult  of  access,  seemed  a  sacrifice  almost 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


too  costly.  How  the  mother  heart  foresaw 
tihe  frosts  and  tempests,  and  longed  to  shield 
the  lovely  flower. 

Mrs.  Halliday  said,  sotto  voce,  to  the  con- 
tented bridegroom,  "I  can't  help  saying  that 
I  admire  your  choice;"  for  wThich  word  he 
gave  'her  a  grateful  and  significant  glance. 
At  this  a  beautiful  flush  stole  over  the  cheeks 
of  the  bride,  which  told  that  her  quick  ear 
had  caugiht  the  word.  As  she  lifted  those 
tenderly  bewitching  eyelashes,  Mrs.  Halli- 
day, as  well  as  Mr.  Goldwln,  thought  she 
never  saw  any  more  beautiful. 

"That  remark  was  not  for  your  ears,"  said 
Mrs.  Halliday. 

"Ah,  no  secrets  now7  that  I  do  not  share," 
archly  replied  the  bride. 

Miss  Applebee  bustled  about  dispensing 
tJhe  little  cubes  of  sugar  for  the  coffee,  and 
little  comfortable  giggles  in  the  conversation. 
Some  preferred  less  condiment  in  the  coffee, 
and  many  less  confectionery  in  the  conversa- 
tion. 

Brother  Jo  skipped  about,  tossing  jokes 
at  everyone  ;sad  enough  down  in  his  heart,but 
determined  no  one  should  know  it;  skipped 
up  behind  the  devoted  pair  as  they  were 
conferring  and  whispered,  "New  broom!  New 
broom  !" 

"Always  new,  Jo,"  retorted  Margaret,  in 
her  richest  alto  voice.  How  -a  little  word 
will  echo  and  reecho  in  after  years. 

The  bridal  tour  to  Eiverton  —  a  journey  of 
nearly  three  weeks  —  let  it  pass  with  brief 


172 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


notice.  Irksome  and  harassing  as  it  certain- 
ly was,  it  abounded  in  the  new  found  joy  of 
great  souls  communing  with  and  discovering 
each  other.  Let  it  pass, — a  society  where  we 
will  not  intrude. 

For  many  reasons  that  journey,  once  made, 
could  never  be  forgotten.  There  was  the 
trip  by  lake,  by  stage,  by  oxcart;  and  then 
several  days  of  paddling  down  the  Pocanock 
river  in  a  dugout,  or  pirogue,  the  French 
name  given  to  the  craft  among  ears  polite. 
The  bride  seated  herself  at  one  end,  and  the 
bridegroom,  with  his  paddle,  occupied  the 
other  end,  while  the  worldly  belongings  were 
in  the  center.  Within  certain  narrow  limi- 
tations, the  canoe  could  be  trusted  to  main- 
tain upriglhtness,  but  was  swift  to  resent  any 
flirtations  with  the  water,  or  with  the  foliage 
and  flowers  which  crept  enticingly  down  the 
banks  or  along  the  islands.  The  autumnal 
gold  was  displacing  the  green  of  the  forest 
which  everihung  the  stream,  and  the  sumac 
and  sassafras  gleamed  here  and  there  like 
torches.  Add  to  this  the  river  perfectly 
reflecting  its  sometimes  pebbly,  so-nietimeH 
solid  rock  bottom,  and  now  running  smoothly 
and  scarcely  appearing  to  flow  at  all,  now 
boiled  and  fretted  against  the  rocks,  now 
tumbling  in  rythmic  roar  over  some  fish  dam, 
and  you  have  that  which  seemed  to  Margaret 
the  very  soul  of  romance.  Nor  in  her  eyes 
did  it  detract  from  the  romance,  when  siie  lay 
down  in  the  pirouge,  while  h-er  best  man, 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


standing  in  the  water,  lifted  the  canoe  with 
its  precious  cargo  over  a  dam.  And  then 
sometimes  from  the  bottom  of  the  canoe  she 
would  merrily  call  out,  "Is  the  broom  new, 
now  John?"  To  which  he  would  retort, 
"Aye,  aye,  Margaret,  always  new." 

And  now  the  end  of  the  journey  was 
almost  in  view.  It  was  noon,  and  the 
evening  shades  would  doubtless  close  around 
them  in  Riverton.  The  paddle  was  laid  to 
rest  for  an  hour,  and  spreading  their  blanket 
on  the  untrodden  grass,  they  took  their  sim- 
ple lun'ch.  To  Margaret,  bounding  on  the 
crest  of  the  billows  of  hope,  all  this  was  the 
poetry  of  life.  To  Mr.  Goldwin,  now  that 
they  were  about  stepping  into  the  realities 
so  familiar,  there  came  a  more  serious  and 
somber  cast  of  thought. 

Margaret,hiding  under  the  bending  boughs 
from  the  noontide  sun,  and  watching  the 
little  gossamer  dressed  seeds  floating  in  the 
air,  found  the  tears  moistening  her  eyes, 
as  she  recalled  how  she  was  floating:  awav 

o  f 

from  all  the  dear  faces  she  had  always  loved, 
but  tears  they  were  of  loving  trust,  as  she 
thought  what  perfect  provision  the  Father 
had  made  to  convey  that  little  seed;  what 
downy  sails  to  bear  the  tiny  seed  ship,  what 
filmy  threads  to  cable  it  in  its  port;  how 
wind,  ill  wind  as  we  call  it  ,and  sky  and  light 
and  air  and  soil  conspire  at  God's  bidding  to 
convoy  or  harbor  and  encourage  it.  "Sure- 
ly,' was  her  thought,  "I  too  am  sailing  in  his 
great  sea,  and  he  guides  my  little  boat." 


174 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


"Tears,  idle  tears,"  we  read  that  there  are; 
tears,  too,  there  are  which  are  the  outlet  of 
the  heart,  grief  laden;  and  also  tears  of  joy 
and  faith  and  hope,  which  tell  of  life,  and 
love  too  great  for  heart  to  tell.  Earth  has 
no  spectoroscope  subtle  enough  to  analyse  a 
tear. 

Mr.  Goldwin,  as  he  approached  Riverton, 
underwent  a  conflict  of  feelings.  Duty  and 
Hope  seemed  met  and  challenged  by  Fear 
•and  Doubt.  He  experienced  the  emotions  said 
to  come  sometimes,  even  to  bravest  soldiers, 
in  the  moment  just  before  the  battle.  He  was 
cabled  to  Riverton  by  the  triple  strands  of 
Faith,  Hope  and  Love,  and  never  for  an  in- 
istant  did  he  think  of  slipping  the  cable. 
Still  he  was  like  a  boat  made  fast  to  shore  by 
a,  slack  hawser;  fast;  securely  so;  but  sensi- 
tive to  the  slightest  motion  of  wind  or  wave; 
floating  in  and  out,  and  now  to  this  and  now 
to  that  side.  At  one  moment  his  eager  heart 
carried  him  boldly  to  the  landing;  at  another, 
reflecting,  he  drew  back  for  a  larger  and  more 
cautious  survey;  only  again,  however,  to  re- 
spond to  the  drawing  of  that  triple  strand 
which  moored  him  to  God  and  man.  Those 
words  of  the  Hebrew  poet  came  singing  on 
the  lute  strings  of  memory;  "He  led  them 
forth  by  the  right  way." 

Margaret,  "niched"  in  the  little  canoe,  and 
gathering  her  wraps  about  her,  sat  silent, 
reposing  on  the  still  evening,  which  as  an 
infinite  Beneficence,  was  enfolding  this  little 
world,  as  a  mother  folds  her  babe  to  sleep  on 


THE  RIVERTO<N  MINISTER. 


her  cheek.  The  moon's  crescent  horn  hung 
low  in  the  sky.  Orion's  girdle  was  beginning 
to  gleam  as  of  old,  and  the  sister  Pleiades  to 
sparkle.  Margaret  could  think  just  where 
they  glowed  aibove  her  dear  home,  and  how 
she  tiad  traced  them  while  she  stood  on  the 
old  threshold.  Her  heart  asked,  "Is  mother 
looking  into  those  "eyes  of  God"  and  think- 
ing of  me  to-night?" 

As,  that  moment,  their  canoe  glided  around 
a  point  and  brought  them  in  sight  of  the 
chimneys  of  Riverton,  they  came  suddenly 
upon  Christian  Stubbs  and  Deborah  Dale, 
gaily  paddling  across  their  course.  Stubbs 
stopped  shout  and  looked,  pushed  back  the 
brim  of  his  hat  for  a  second  look,  and  shouted, 
"It  is,  It  is  Mr.  Goldwin,"  and  his  sVvvarthy 
face  gleamed  like  the  sunrise.  Deborah  was 
no  less  pleased,  though  less  demonstrative, 
and  perhaps  more  intent  on  the  other  person 
in  the  minister's  boat.  These  young  repre- 
sentatives of  Eiverton  were  just  coming  in 
from  an  hour's  ride  on  the  river;  and,  indeed, 
Stubbs  felt  as  though  the  sun  had  that 
instant  appeared  out  of  a  six  week's  eclipse. 
He  insisted  on  his  privilege  of  taking  charge 
of  the  baggage,  while  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwin 
should  proceed  at  once  into  the  village. 

As  John  took  Margaret's  hand  and  climbed 
sthe  river  bank,  he  whispered  drolly,  "Thus 
hand  in  hand,  Adam  and  Eve  took  their  soli- 
tary way  out  of  Eden." 

"No,  John,"  retorted  Margaret,  "into  Eden! 
Hand  in  hand  into  Paradise  regained!" 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

A  frontier  town,  and  indeed  any  growing 
town,  is  a  net  which  catches  all  manner  of 
fish.  We  have  often  watched  the  fishermen, 
with  what  complacency  they  gathered  in  the 
bass  and  pickerel,  and  with  what  disdain 
they  "chucked"  the  suckers  and  "small  fry" 
back  into  the  water;  and  we  have  sometimes 
wished  for  power  to  make  like  assortment 
from  the  human  nets.  But  doubtless,  we 
should  make  sorry  work  of  it.  Divine  Wis- 
dom has  determined  that  this  separation 
shall  be  'made  neither  here  nor  now,  nor  by 
us. 

Riverton  was  steadily  receiving  accession 
to  its  population,  and  among  these,  notably 
was  Edward  Mortimer.  He  was  a  son  of  an 
English  Dean;  had  been  to  Eton  and  Oxford; 
had  shown  good  abilities;  had  enjoyed  every 
opportunity  and  incentive  which  wealth  and 
devoted  parents  could  furnish;  had  revolted 
from  their  design  to  have  him  take  church 
orders;  had  developed  a  disposition  to  travel 
and  wander  over  the  earth;  and  had  finally 
prevailed  upon  his  father  to  grant  him  an 
annual  allowance,  and  leave  him  to  his  own 
preferences.  The  father,  driven  to  despair 
of  his  designs  for  the  church  in  his  son  Ed- 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER.  ]^~ 

ward  and  disgusted  with  his  reckless,  self- 
indulgent  habits,  at  length,  to  satisfy  con- 
science and  end  his  own  responsibility,  pro- 
vided this  annuity,  sometimes  having  faint 
hope  that  travel  and  experience  might  bring 
wisdom  to  the  errant  son. 

Young  Mortimer  had  roamed  over  the 
British  Isles  and  on  the  continent,  and  con- 
ducted himself  in  such  a  way  as  made  fre- 
quent changes  not  only  desirable  but  neces- 
sary. Finally  he  found  it  essential  to  his 
convenience  secretly  to  take  passage  for  New 
York.  Here  he  led  a  precarious  life  as  a 
young  and  dashing  sport;  sometimes  taking 
the  current  at  the  flood,  sometimes  flound- 
ering amid  shallows,  but  always  hopeful,  and 
fertile  in  resources,  and  never  troubled  by 
any  scruples  of  conscience. 

On  one  of  these  occasions  when  he  seemed 
to  be  coming  in  on  a  full  tide,  he  had  steered 
his  bark  into  the  sea  of  matrimony;  wedded 
a  lady  of  character  and  position  in  New  York 
city;  set  forth  on  the  connubial  deep  with 
banners  flying;  made  a  quick  voyage,  soon 
ran  ashore  and  abandoning  his  pledged  life- 
mate  to  the  ship  and  the  mercy  of  the  piti- 
less elements,  suddenly  appeared  in  tne  role 
of  a  land  speculator  at  Kiverton.  Son  of  an 
English  dean,  possessed,  as  it  would  seem, 
of  money,  traveled,  informed,  of  polite  man- 
ners, engaging  and  attractive  bearing,  and  a 
ready  adaptability  to  whatever  social  atmo- 
sphere he  might  enter,  he  was  soon  well 

12 


178 


THE   RIVEitTON  MINISTER. 


known  and  had  the  entre  of  the  society  of 
Kivertou.  Xo  lean  and  hungry  look  was  his. 
Hound,  sleek  and  oily,  he  carried  an  air  of 
Johnny  Bull  frankness,  under  which  he  was 
always  in  reality  scheming  and  plotting  for 
his  own  selfish  ends. 

Colonel  Grande  had  run  his  course  as  ho- 
tel keeper,  and,  involved  in  pecuniary  toils, 
had  been  obliged  to  abandon  the  hotel;  sud- 
denly found  it  too  confining  for  his  health, 
and  opened,  as  he  termed  it,  a  select  board- 
ing house.  Here  Edward  Mortimer  had  ta- 
ken rooms.  Little  time  did  he  allow  to  es- 
cape before  'he  had  acquainted  the  house 
with  his  rare  antecedents.  This  house  con- 
sisted of  several  boarders,  the  school  teacher 
AV]IO  was  Mrs.  Grande's  maiden  sister,  and 
the  daughter  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Grande, 
just  returned  from  a  very  superficial  but 
very  pretentious  boarding  school  career  at 
Indianapolis.  This  young  lady,  Kate  Grande, 
was  taught  by  her  parents  to  think  that  she 
was  quite  too  rare  a  flower  to  be  suffered  to 
expend  her  sweetness  in  the  common  walks 
of  Mverton  life;  a  lesson  she  learned  more 
readily  than  others  which  had  been  assigned 
her, 

Mortimer  by  tacit,  but  mutual  consent,  was 
the  oracle,  code  of  reference,  and  central  lum- 
inary of  this  circle. With  many  a  Munchausen 
tale  of  his  exploits  did  he  regale  his  eager 
and  select  audience,  while  he  regaled  him- 
self luxuriously  with  Mrs.  Grande's  excellent 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


coffee.  The  Colonel,  who  was  by  nature,  an 
idolater,  made  haste  to  set  up  this  new  image 
and  bow  before  this  new  shrine;  and  Mrs. 
Grande  was  captured  by  the  courtly  manners 
and  elegant  discourse  of  this  scion  of  En- 
glish nobility.  And  this  not  without  reason. 
For,  although  Mr.  Mortimer  had  not  profited 
as  he  should  by  his  rare  opportunities  and 
good  natural  gifts,  he  had  not  been  blind  nor 
unobservant,  and  had  perforce  absorbed 
much  knowledge  of  society,  and  of 
all  which  "adorns  and  embellishes  civilized 
life." 

While  wearing  the  appearance  of  entire 
freedom  and  engaging  frankness  in  speaking 
of  himself,  no  one  was  really  more  circum- 
spect and  reticent  than  he  concerning  the 
vital  facts  of  his  history.  Sordid  sensualist 
that  he  was,  he  was  nevertheless  like  those 
insects  which  promptly  assume  the  color  of 
any  object  on  which  they  alight,  and  when 
he  was  in  highly  reputable  circles,  he  easily 
bore  his  share  in  their  affabilities  and  amen- 
ities, and  in  his  own  view  he  found  no  diffi- 
culty in  styling  himself  "a  good,  generous 
fellow."  To  be  sure,  as  he  must  admit,  there 
were  for  him  some  heavy  scores  on  the  debit 
side;  but  by  his  own  ingenious  method  of 
moral  book-keeping,  he  was  able  to  balance 
his  acounts  to  his  entire  satisfaction.  Some- 
times, after  being  discovered  in  some  heinous 
defalcation,  sheriff  conscience  would  succeed 
in  arresting  him,  and  then  forthwith  he  was 


180 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


exceedingly  penitent  and  said  penitence,  lie 
never  failed  to  reckon  as  a  very  large  return 
in  his  credit  column; — sufficient  amply  to 
liquidate  whatever  had  accrued  against  him. 
A  man  of  fortune,  wide  travel,  and,  as  Mrs. 
Grande  phrased  it,  "very  highly  connected," 
it  is  not  strange  that  Edward  Mortimer  was 
regarded  as  a  rare  acquisition  to  the  society 
of  Riverton.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  Mrs. 
Grande  immediately  had  thoughts  of 
her  daughter,  Miss  Kate,  a  gorgeous  plant 
just  out  of  the  boarding  school  hot  house. 
But  this,  our  Caesar,  was  very  choice  upon 
what  meats  he  fed.  Miss  Kate  danced  be- 
tween this  man,  wiio  she  hoped,  was  to  be  her 
lover,  and  her  looking  glass.  Poor  little 
moth!  Fluttering  too  near  the  flame. 

Mr.  Mortimer  rather  plumed  himself  upon 
being  able  to  say  that  he  was  a  faithful  at- 
tendant upon  "divine  service,"  and  he  lost  no 
time  in  forming  the  acquaintance  of  Mr. 
Goldwin,  and  in  congratulating  him  upon  his 
return  to  his  parish,  adding  that,  although  he 
had  never  before  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting 
him,  he  had  heard  in  Riverton  so  many  flat- 
tering references  to  him,  that  he  almost  felt 
as  though  he  had  known  him.  He  remarked 
also  that  personally  he  was  rejoiced  in  Mr. 
Goldwin's  return  to  his  pulpit,  for,  though 
he  was  by  no  means  as  good  as  he  hoped  to 
be,  he  made  it  a  rule,  he  said,  to  attend 
church,  and  'he  had  felt  very  much  lost  for 
the  last  month,  with  Mr.  Goldwin's  enureu. 


THE   RIVER-TON  MINISTER. 


closed;  for,  he  added,  although  brought  up 
after  the  strictest  sect  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land, lie  was  free  to  confess  himself  thor- 
oughly enamored  with  the  severe  simplicity 
of  the  non-ritualistic  faith  and  mode  of 
worship. 

Seated  in  church  at  Kiverton,  if  we  come 
to  the  exact  facts,  Mortimer  deftly  cast  incen- 
diary glances  at  the  ladies,  and  fastened  his 
mind  far  more  upon  Miss  Drake,  Miss  Isabel, 
Sibyl,  and  Mrs.  Dale's  daughters,  and  the 
pastor's  lovely  bride,  than  ihe  did  upon  Mr. 
Goldwin;  although  he  seldom  retired  from 
the  service  without  complimenting  the  pastor 
upon  his  excellent  sermon.  He  affirmed  that 
he  had  listened  to  the  famous  pulpit  orators 
of  England  and  America,  but  that  none  met 
his  case  as  well  as  did  Mr.  Goldwin.  The  lat- 
ter received  such  statements  as  friendly 
exaggerations,  and  yet  there  was  more  than 
one  grain  of  truth  in  them,  for  Mr.  Goldwin's 
preaching  "found"  'his  hearers.  Nor  is  it 
necessary  to  suppose  Mortimer  wholly  insin- 
cere, or  merely  diplomatic  in  complimenting 
his  pastor,  as  he  called  Mr.  Goldwin.  He, 
selfish  Englishman  though  he  was,  respond- 
ed readily  to  his  surroundings,  and  he  verily 
sometimes  envied  the  good  their  peace  and 
quiet  joy;  sometimes  winced  under  the  stings 
of  plain  truth  ;  sometimes,  too,  felt  the  touch 
of  his  blessed  mother.  Even  the  darkest 
fabric,  when  it  fronts  the  sun,  throws  off 
some  light;  and  no  stream,  however  direct 


182 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


its  general  course,  but  that  sometimes 
doubles  on  itself.  Mr.  Goldwin  was  not 
insensible  to  the  attractive  qualities  of  his 
new  hearer,  and  not  without  earnest  desire 
and  hope  of  happily  reversing  the  disposition 
of  his  life. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

To  one  brought  up  amid  the  inflexible 
forms  and  moss  grown  precedents  of  English 
nobility,  the  change  to  the  new  and  uncon- 
ventional society  of  Riverton  was  very  dis- 
cernible. It  was  like  suddenly  giving  to  one 
long  confronted  on  every  side  with  prohibi- 
tion and  anathema,  the  freedom  of  the 
universe.  Nor  to  one  of  Mortimer's  adventur- 
ous disposition  was  this  informality  and 
luxuriant  personality  at  all  disagreeable. 
For  a  time,  at  least,  the  novelty  and  abandon 
of  these  settlements  quite  occupied  and  sat- 
isfied him.  He  was  a  good  natured  saunterer, 
ready  to  follow  any  path,  bound  upon  pleas- 
ure, and  careless  how  or  whither. 

Strolling  one  evening  in  a  "wood  lot-'  close 
at  hand,  he  came  upon  a  half  score  of  cows 
browsing  liesurely  toward  their  milking 
stalls.  They  paused  and  fixed  an  inquiring 
eye  on  the  intruding  stranger.  He,  too, 
paused  to  admire  the  sleek,  well-to-do 
creatures,  with  their  distended  udders,,  and 
he  said,  "English  cattle  can't  beat  this." 
Hark!  In  'the  distance  a  clear  falsetto, 
"Come  Mooly.  Come  Mooly."  The  bell  cow, 
Mooly,  listened  with  a  philosophic  calm  for  a 
moment,  and  then  her  bell  began  to  ding  as 


184 


THE  KIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


.she  concluded  to  "move  on."  The  little  drove 
separated  and  Crumple  Horn,  White  Face,and 
Pink  Eye  demurely  followed  Mooly.  Dance, 
Jonas  Drake's  beautiful  hiefer,  that  stood 
eyeing  the  infrequent  visitor  until  all  her 
associates  had  passed  on,  at  the  swing  of  the 
alien's  cane,  swung  up  her  tail  and  her  heels 
and.  cantered  away.  A  few  rods  in  advance 
was  a  fence  and  in  it  a  set  of  bars  which  had 
been  let  down.  Following  a  well  worn  path, 
the  cows,  led  by  Mooly,  filed  through  this  gap 
into  the  pasture  lot,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
which  now  'broke  upon  the  view  the  back 
yard,  sheds,  and  barns  of  the  Drake  place. 

Now  it  was  plain  who  had  called  Mooly, 
for  there  in  a  short  dress  and  an  all-envelop- 
ing apron,  and  with  milk  pail  on  her  arm,  and 
milk  stool  in  her  hand,  stood  Rachel  Drake. 
Jonas,  minus  coat  and  waistcoat,  and  bare- 
footed, bareheaded  Waxie,  were  coming  to 
join  'her;  the  latter  hopping  and  skipping  and 
tra-3a-la-ing  at  the  top  of  her  voice. 

Mortimer  had  met  Miss  Drake  once  or 
twice,  and  now  observed  in  her  the  same 
charm  of  form  and  graceful  poise  which  his 
quick  eye  had  noted  the  first  lime  he  saw 
her.  He  was  eager  to  pursue  his  acquaint- 
ance, and  now  that  good  fortune  had  let 
down  the  bars,  he  was  not  the  one  to  decline 
to  enter.  Bo  he  approached  and  with  his 
politest  bow,  said, 

"Good  evening,  Miss  Drake." 

"Good  evening,"  rejoined  Rachel,  with  a 


THE    U1VEUTON    MIMSTKU. 


faint  flush  playing  over  her  cheek.  So  it  is 
you,  Mr.  Mortimer,  that  we  have  to  thank  for 
the  cows  coming  home  so  promptly." 

"Now  I  vow,"  said  he,  "this  is  jolly;  strol- 
ling by  an  unknown  path,  and  following  the 
cows,  to  come  out  so  unexpected  at  your 
gate!" 

Then  he  fell  to  discussing  with  Jonas  the 
fine  points  in  the  stock,  and  the  'latter  was 
surprised  to  find  the  English  gentleman  so 
excellent  a  judge  of  cattle. 

"You'll  excuse  us  a  few  moments,  Mr.  Mor- 
timer," said  Rachel.  "Business  is  business, 
as  father  says." 

"Certainly,  certainly,"  he  exclaimed,  gra- 
graciously  bowing,  "I  am  the  one  to  be 
excused." 

With  that  Rachel  made  Mooly  "hist,"  and 
seated  on  her  stool,  forthwith  the  lacteal 
streams  began  to  go  pit  pat,  and  play  in 
snowy  cascades  and  whirlpools  in  her  bright 
tin  pail.  Waxie,  meanwThile,  swished  her 
sassafras  bush  about  the  flanks  and  legs  of 
the  cows  and  kept  the  flies  on  the  wing. 

Now  Crumple  Horn  looked  meek  as  a  saint, 
but  woe  to  him  who  counted  on  her  saint- 
ship.  She  was  known  to  let  fly  with  her 
hinder  legs  at  most  unexpected  times  and 
places,  and  had  even  been  known  to  "push 
with  her  horns."  On  the  other  hand  Pink 
Eye  and  White  Face  practiced  faithfully  the 
doctrine  of  non-resinstance.  So  Jonas  al- 
ways began  with  Crumple  Horn,  on  the  prin- 


THE   U1VERTOX  MINISTER. 


ciple  that  it  is  wise  to  storm  the  stronghold 
first.  He  threw  a  rope  over  her  horns  and 
tied  it  to  a  post.  Then  while  milking  her  he 
held  his  head  firmly  against  her  side  in  the 
place  Avhere  the  germ  of  the  kick  evolved,  and 
crushed  it  in  the  germ.  The  same  tact  with 
which  Jonas  adroitly  managed  Crumple 
Horn,  served  him  well  in  later  years  in 
managing  men. 

Just  then  the  gate  clicked.  Mr.  Drake  was 
coming,  and  every  cow  looked  up  with  the 
hope,  this  time  illusive,  of  a  lick  of  salt,  or 
a  'bite  of  pumpkin  or  a  nubbin  of  corn. 

"So-o  there,"  cried  Rachel,  as  Mooly,  ab- 
sorbed in  great  expectations,  was  about  to 
step.  Creatures  of  one  idea  are  apt  to  upset 
the  dish. 

But  now  Mooly  is  "stripped  dry,"  and 
Rachel's  pail  is  full  and  foaming  over,  and 
Mr.  Mortimer,  taking  it,  a  companies  her  to 
the  milk  house.  Reader  did  you  ever  visit 
that  milk  house? — a  very  modest  structure 
down  amid  the  grasses  and  cowslips  and  but- 
tercups, and  just  below  the  ever  flowing 
spring;  the  clearest,  coldest  water.  Years 
have  sown  their  moss  and  licken  thickly  over 
many  of  the  writer's  fondest  memories,  but 
•he  still  sees  that  spring,  and  sees  and  hears 
the  little  gurgling  stream  it  formed,  which 
trickled  in  a  little  artificial  channel  across 
the  stone  floor  of  the  milk  house.  What 
words  can  fitly  express  the  creature  comfort 
with  which  many's  the  time  he  has  surveyed 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


187 


those  rolls  of  yellow  butter,  Mrs.  Drake's 
phenomenal  butter;  those  rows  of  bright  milk 
pans,  those  jars  of  richest  golden  cream. 
Unadulterated  extracts  and  essences  of  green 
fields,  pearly  dew  and  laughing  sunshine, 
friends  of  our  better  days,  whither  have  ye 
fled,  and  given  place  to  the  mocking,  gibber- 
ing shades  of  butterine,  oleomargarine  and 
"doctored"  milk? 

No  marvel  that  Mortimer  looked  on  with 
wonder  and  talked  of  the  idylic,  while  Eachel 
strained  her  pailful  and  talked  of  the  practi- 
cal. No  marvel  that  Mortimer  a  few  mo- 
ments later,  drew  up  with  the  family  to  the 
evening  meal — butter,  honey,  milk  and 
wh  eaten  loaves  of  snowy  white — with  a  zest 
which  no  guest  at  a  king's  table  ever  knew. 
No  marvel  that  as  Rachel  appeared  at  the 
table  in  a  modest  blue  gown  which  suited  so 
well  her  fair  complexion,  and  bore  herself 
with  such  accustomed  ease  and  '  propriety, 
he  was  'more  than  ever  impressed  with  her 
interesting  and  thoughtful  face.  No  marvel 
that  as  the  master  of  the  house  spun  yarns 
of  his  early  woodsman  life,  and  of  the  "dark 
and  bloodj*  days"  of  Kentucky  and  Daniel 
Doone,  this  chance  guest  had  a  tale  from  his 
travels  and  adventures  to  match  every  one 
of  them. 

Jonas  had  brought  to  light  from  some  neigh- 
bor's shelf  a  book  of  travels  in  the  Old  World, 
and  he  was  ready  now  and  then  with  his  eager 
questions,  and  all  listened  intently,  both  en- 


188 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


tertained  and  instructed  by  these  descriptions 
from  an  eye  witness. 

•As  Mortimer  walked  back  to  his  room  that 
night,  he  felt  the  spell  of  that  simple,  pure 
and  affectionate  home.  He  could  but  do 
homage  to  it;  could  but  recall  what  might 
have  been  with  himself;  and  became  restive 
under  self-reproach.  What  night  had  he  to 
set  foot  on  such  hallowed  ground?  He!  a 
ruthless  despoiler  of  home!  But  he  brushed 
aside  these  thoughts  and  said  to  himself, 
"That  Miss  Drake — what  native  grace  and 
dignity — what  unaffected  beauty!  By  Jove, 
her  attractions  would  do  honor  to  the  court 
of  St.  James!" 

A  few  evenings  later,  and  as  Stubbs  was 
passing  O'Flannigan's  country  store,  where 
whiskey  was  the  prominent  export  and  im- 
port, his  attention  was  arrested  by  loud, 
hilarious  voices.  It  was  late,  and  the  doors 
and  shutters  were  closed,  but  the  voices  with- 
in seemed  familiar.  "Hark,"  said  he,  "is  it 
them?"  He  could  distinguish  the  clink  of 
glasses,  and  boisterous  guffaws,  mingled 
with  oaths,  as  one  or  another  of  them  threw 
down  a  lucky  card,  or  drew  a  blank.  "A 
drinking,  gambling  crew,"  thought  Stubbs. 
Just  then  came  words  of  coarse  banter. 
"Can  it  be?"  he  exclaimed.  "Yes,  that's 
Grande  and  Hawkins  and  O'Flannigan  and 
Mortimer!  Ho!  ho!  so  that's  the  kind  of  man 
this  genteel  blue  blood,  Mortimer  is!  River- 
ton  little  suspects  him  of  such  thinge."  Hark! 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


Mortimer  breaks  out  in  song  the  frequent 
refrain  of  which  as  Stubbs  catches  it  is, 

"Then  drink  boys,  drink, 

And  we  won't  go  home  till  morning." 

Now  it  came  to  pass  in  these  days  that  the 
autumn  house  cleaning  and  renovating  in 
anticipation  of  the  long  winter  was  in  process 
at  the  Dale  home.  One  period  in  this  process 
was  the  washing  of  the  blankets,  quilts  and 
coverlets,  and  the  sunrise  found  Deborah 
and  Stubbs,  or  as  they  called  each  other,  Deb. 
and  Chris.,"  who  was  generally  at  hand  when 
he  could  lend  a  hand  to  "his  Deb.,"  carrying 
swung  between  them  on  a  pole,  a  large  iron 
kettle  down  to  the  river  bank  just  back  of  the 
Dale  house.  It  was  one  of  those  superb 
mornings  which  make  it  a  joy  to  exist.  Deb. 
was  in  a  short  coarse  frock  which  seemed  to 
struggle  to  grasip  the  redundant  form,  and 
which  left  her  bare  feet  and  ankles  disen- 
cumbered. She  was  a  magnificent  illustra- 
tion of  a  certain  kind  of  beauty,  —  that  of 
youth,  health,  physical  perfection  and  super- 
abounding  vitality.  Her  mother  was  cap- 
tain, but  Deb.  was  second  in  command  of  the 
Dale  forces,  and  an  able  second,  too.  If  you 
had  seen  her,  her  firm,  assured  tread,  the  in- 
dependent toss  of  her  head,  the  ease  and 
eagerness  with  'which  she  marched  off  with 
her  end  of  the  pole  on  which  hung  the  kettle, 
you  as  well  as  Ohris,would  have  accredited 
her,n'ow  at  least,with  meriting  to  be  called 


190 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


"the 'better  half."  Assuming  a  very  innocent 
and  far  off  look,  Deb  suddenly  raised  the  pole 
and  sent  the  kettle  tilting  and  sliding  over  to 
Chris, — a  joke  which  he  could  return  in  the 
same  kind. 

With  many  a  banter  and  jest,  they  built  a 
roaring  fire  under  the  suspended  kettle,  and 
filled  the  latter  with  water,  Deb.  roguishly 
spattering  her  lover;  which,  however,  did  not 
dampen  the  flame  of  his  love.  They  sat  down 
on  a  log  for  a  few  blissful  moments,  and 
watched  the  fire  as  it  climbed  the  sides  of  the 
kettle.  Then  Chris.,  springing  to  his  feet, 
exclaimed,  "Farewell  Deb.,  I  must  be  off," 
and  ran  up  the  bank,  bound  for  Gen.  Tup- 
per's,  where  he  said  he  had  a  little  jog  of 
work ;  when  suddenly  he  caught  sight  of  Mor- 
timer lolling  under  a  tree  near  by.  "Well, 
Avell,"  thought  Stubbs,  with  a  shrug  of  the 
shoulders,  "what  brings  our  London  exquis- 
ite around  so  early?"  At  the  same  time  his 
face  darkened  and  his  hands  closed,  and  can 
you  wonder  that  he  had  a  feeling  akin  to  that 
of  Ithuriel  when  he  discovered  Satan  squat 
like  a  toad  at  the  ear  of  Eve?  What  new 
passion  was  this  which  leaped  within  Stubbs 
like  a  lion  from  his  lair,  and  so  at  variance 
with  that  which  lighted  up  his  face  but  a 
moment  before.  He  shook  himself  and  tried 
to  laugh,  but  he  did  wish  he  had  not  that 
engtagement  at  Gen,  Tupper's,  and  the  in- 
stinctive ill  judgment  which  he  had  formed 
of  Mortimer  the  first  time  he  saw  him,  it  must 
be  admitted,  had  not  been  removed  by  sub- 


THE   UIVEUTON  MIMSTKU. 


sequent  knowledge  of  him.  So  in  no  very 
amiable  frame  of  mind  he  hurried  to  his 
morning-  task. 

Meanwhile,  Mortimer  from  his  covert  was 
admiring  those  plump,  round  arms  as  they 
punched  the  blankets  down  into  the  hot  water 
with  clothes  stick,  and  was  completely 
captured  by  those  stout  pink  and  white 
ankles.  He  was  gloating  over  the  attrac- 
tions of  this  water  nymph  and  yearning  to 
come  into  close  fellowship  with  her. 

Then  Deb.,  who,  quite  unconscious  of  obser- 
vers, had  been  singing  some  household  song, 
called  to  her  sister  to  run  to  the  house  for 
more  soap,  charging  her  to  hurry  back,  so  as 
to  help  lift  the  kettle  off. 

But  her  sister  was  not  one  of  those  who 
often  hurry,  and  the  water  was  boiling  over 
and  hissing  and  sizzing  in  the  fire  and  scat- 
tering ashes  and  smoke.  Mortimer  at  once 
perceived  and  seized  his  'opportunity.  Saun- 
tering along  as  though  his  approach  was  the 
merest  accident,  he  offered  his  'assistance,  at 
the  same  time  laying  hold  of  the  pole  on 
which  the  iron  'boiler  was  sunspended.  The 
pole  was  much  warmer  than  was  agreeable 
to  the  hands  of  this  sprig  of  the  nobility,  but 
gallant  knight  never  clung  to  his  good  sword 
more  faithfully,  and  with  the  help  of  Deb's 
muscular  lifting,  the  sputtering  iron  kettle 
was  safely  landed  on  terra  firma. 

Now  it  would  not  be  just  to  Deborah  Dale 
to  say  that  she  had  no  vanity,  or  to  say  that 
she  did  not  feel  flattered  and  just  a  little 


192 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


elated  to  find  herself  the  object  of  deference 
and  politest  attention  from  this  gentleman 
par  excellence,  in  perfect  attire,  rings  set 
with  gems  on  his  fingers,  and  a  gold  chain 
flashing  from  his  velvet  waistcoat;  and, 
although  she  was  coy,  and  replied  to  him  for 
the  most  part  in  monosyllables,  it  was  mani- 
fest enough  that  she  was  pleased  to  have  him 
talk  to  her. 

Here  Stubbs  returned,  and  as  he  beheld 
Mortimer  seated  on  the  log,  quite  at  his  ease, 
and  evidently  entertaining  Deb.,  her  face,  lu 
spite  of  herself,  suffused  with  gratification, 
they  both  saw  fire  in  Stubb's  eyes,  and  black- 
ness on  his  brow, — lightning  stored  beneath 
a  midnight  cloud.  Nor  did  the  coquettish 
vein  which  seems  to  belong  to  the  circulatory 
system  of  woman,fail  to  come  to  the  surface, 
and  Deborah  was  in  the  mood  to  sport  with 
that  cloud,  rather  than  to  beam  it  away. 

Soon  Mortimer,  bowing  graciously  to  the 
blushing  nymph,  and  avowing  his  sincere 
hope  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  pursue  an 
acquaintance  begun  under  such  novel  and 
charming  circumstances,  took  his  departure, 
bestowing  no  notice  upon  Stubbs. 

How  sensitive  is  love.  Thermometer  of 
the  soul,  and  prompt  indicator  of  every 
slightest  variation  of  its  temperature.  The 
mercury  had  suddenly  encountered  a  chilling 
wave.  It  was  only  temporary,  and,  like  the 
rose  scent  of  Mortimer's  handsome  black  hair, 
would  soon  pass  by. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


"Deb."  said  Stubbs,  "if  I  ever  see  that  fel- 
low near  you  again,  I  will  kick  him." 

"What!  jealous  are  you,  Ohris?"  said  Deb. 
most  tormentingly,  at  the  same  time  patting 
his  cheek  With  her  wet,  slippery  hand. 

"I  say  it  again,  Deb.,  if  I  ever  see  that  black 
leg  near  you  again,  I'll  kick  him." 

Several  days  passed  before  Deb.  and  Ohris. 
met  again.  Deb  had  cleared  the  tea  things 
away,  and  seated  outside  the  porch,  was  par- 
ing apples.  Her  mind  had  traveled  more 
than  once  over  her  suhden  and  romantic 
interview  with  Mortimer,  and  she  had  come 
out  of  the  spell  which  his  presence  had 
thrown  about  her.  She  had  her  weaknesses; 
like  Mother  Eve,wa's  susceptible  to  flattery. 
Nevertheless,  she  had  a  prevailing  modicum 
of  good  sense,  and  while  she  could  see  no 
justification  of  Stubb's  obvious  aversion  to 
Mortimer,  she  admitted  to  herself  that  she 
had  taken  a  little  unjustifiable  pleasure  in 
feeding  Stubb's  fear  of  a  successful  rival. 
She  said,  "The  idea  that  this  blue-blood  Lon- 
doner really  cares  anything  for  me!"  The 
more  she  thought  of  it,  the  more  preposter- 
ous it  seemed;  and  as  the  gate  turned  on  its 
hinges  and  she  saw  the  manly  form  of  her 
honest  lover,  she  gave  him  such  a  frank, 
love-lighted  face,  as  at  once  told  him  her 
heart,  and  left  no  .space  for  shadows  or  cloud. 

"Sit  down,  Ohris,  I  was  wishing  I  could  see 
you.  Don't  you  think  I  am  a  little  naughty?" 

Stubbs  laughed,  and  said,  "I  expect  you 
tihought  I  was  kind  of  touchy  like." 

is 


194 


THE  RIVifiitTON  MINISTER. 


"No — yes — well  perhaps  both  of  us  were 
foolish.  At  any  rate  I  guess  I  was,"  said 
Deb.  But  now,  Chris,  pray  tell,  why  are  you 
so  dead  against  Mr.  Mortimer;  for  it  is  plain 
to  be  seen  that  you  don't  like  him." 

"Well,"  replied  Stubbs,  "I  don't  know  as  I 
can  tell  exactly.  The  very  first  time  1  set 
eyes  on  this  man,  I  suspicioned  him;  same 
as  the  first  time  I  saw  Mr.  Goldwin,  I  said, 
"There's  a  good  man."  Ohris  relied  much 
on  his  intuitive  judgment  of  men. 

"And  is  that  all?"  asked  Deb.  "You  don't 
like  him,  because  you  don't  like  him?" 

Then  Stubbs  told  her  that  he  had  the  best 
of  reasons  for  not  liking  the  nxan,  and  that 
some  day  he  would  tell  her  all  about  it. 
"And  then  knowing  the  fellow  as  I  do,"  said 
he,  "when  I  started  on  that  morning  for  Gen. 
Tupper's,  and  saw  him  sitting  behind  the 
bushes  under  the  beech  tree,  and  watching 
you,  I  could  think  only  of  a  rattle  snake." 

"Watching  me!  Why,  as  much  as  two 
hours  after  you  left,  he  came  along,  whist- 
ling and  swinging  his  cane,  and  said  that  he 
had  that  minute  left  Ms  writing  desk  for  a 
little  recreation,  and  accidentally,  or  as  he 
should  say,  providentially  came  upon  me, 
just  when,  as  he  said,  he  could  have  the  ex- 
treme pleasure  of  assisting  me;  said  he  had 
seen  me  at  church  so  often  that  he  could  nor 
look  upon  me  quite  as  a  stranger;  always 
attended  church  .himself,  and  had  a  great 
partiality  for  church-goers;  had  often  ad- 


THE   RIVBKTOX   MINISTER. 


195 


mired  me  and  hoped  he  might  become 
acquainted  with  me,  but  had  never  dreamed 
of  such  a  novel  and  truly  romantic  introduc- 
tion ais  this  morning  had  afforded  him;  some 
of  the  happiest  friendships  of  his  life  had 
grown,  he  said,  out  o»f  just  such  unexpected 
meetings;  the  straightforward,  unceremoni- 
ous, informal  ways  of  the  West,  he  added, 
charmed  him,  just  suited  him.  All  this  stuff 
and  a  great  deal  more,  and  in  such  big  words 
that  I  didn't  half  understand  what  he  meant 
anyhow,  seemed  just  to  tumble  out  of  him 
like  water  out  of  a  jug." 

"He's  a  puppy!  that's  what  he  is,"  said 
Chris.  "Deb,  isonie  of  these  big  red  apples 
you're  paring  are  wormy  at  the  core;  still, 
them  that's  used  to  it  can  mostly  tell  a  good 
apple  at  seeing  it." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

As  the  autumn  blasts  were  wantonly  dis- 
robing the  wood,  and  prophesying  of  winter, 
Mr.  Goldwin  hastened  to  lead  his  wife  into 
their  new  home.  Nothing  bleak  or  wintry 
there!  It  was  a  'house  on  "the  hill,"  alone, 
half  cocealed  in  the  freshly  invaded  forest. 

With  what  glee  Margaret  traversed  those 
four  little  rooms.  How  she  enjoyed  the 
odor  of  fresh  wood  work,  and  curling  a  shav- 
ing, she  said,  "Home,  John,  our  home!" 
Wedged  between  great  stumps  and  piles  of 
underbrush,  with  hugh  trees  swaying,  men- 
acing boughs  above  it;  with  no  fences,  and 
distant  a  good  quarter  of  a  mile  from  Kelly's 
spring,  the  nearest  supply  of  water — it  was  a 
home  sufficiently  rural,  and  lavish  in  oppor- 
tunity for  communing  with  nature  in  her 
changeful  moods.  Its  roof  was  lowly,  but  its 
rooms  were  peopled  with  high  thoughts,  and 
its  skies  dipped  into  ia  glorious  future.  Its 
walls  were  plain,  unadorned,  but  no  day  so 
dark  that  the  sunbeams  did  not  dance  on 
them. 

Mr.  Goldwin  'had  been  advised  to  purchase 
a  plot  consisting  of  several  town  lots.  Such 
could  be  bought  then  for  a  very  moderate 
sum,  and  could  not  fail  to  yield  large  returns 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


197 


as  an  investment.  But  he  was  ever  firmly 
resolved  that,  amid  so  much  speculating  and 
land-grabbing,  it  should  be  self-evident  as  the 
sunshine  that  he  had  come  to  Kiverton  wholly 
absorbed  in  higher  intent. 

For  weeks  it  had  been  for  the  minister  and 
his  bride  a  continual  round  of  visiting  and 
tea  drinking  at  the  hospitable  homes  of  Riv- 
erton,  and  this  semi-dissipation  prepared 
them  the  more  keenly  to  enjoy  the  retire- 
ment of  their  own  home.  Home!  That  col- 
ors the  rudest  structure  in  hues  immortal. 

Mr.  Goldwin,  since  bringing  Mrs.  Goldwin 
to  Riverton,  had  taken,  if  possible,  even 
higher  place  than  before  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people.  Mothers  and  maidens  were  unani- 
mous in  admiration  of  his  selection. 
Dear  matronly  Mrs.  Tupper  said  to  the  Gen- 
eral that  "<she  felt  drawn  to  Mrs.  Goldwin 
almost  as  to  her  own  daughter,"  and  Mrs. 
Barnett  declared  that  "to  look  in  her  face 
was  enough  to  make  anyone  good."  Her 
warm  sympathies  and  her  personal  interest 
in  humanity  brought  her  close  to  all  in  their 
every  day  wants,  and  at  the  same  time,  there 
was  ever  that  about  her  which  suggested  the 
higher.  At  the  sick  bed  she  Was  most  wel- 
come, and  seemed  on  those  occasions  inspired 
1o  the  fittest  word  and  deed.  Happy  lives 
are  those  which  make  heaven  seem  real  and 
not  far  away. 

Mr.  Goldwin  noticed  that  while  his  wife 
spoke  of  Mr.  Pierpont,  admiring  his  intelli- 


198 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


gence,  modesty  and  manliness;  or  of  Dr.  Ban- 
croft, laughing  at  his  brusque  and  humorous 
ways,  and  gratified  with  his  clear  cut  opin- 
ions; she  almost  never  mentioned  Mr.  Morti- 
mer. This  reticence  concerning  him  was  the 
more  to  be  observed,  since  only  a  few  days 
before,  at  Mrs.  Martyn's,  Mortimer  had  sat  by 
Margaret  at  dinner,  and  had  bestowed  his 
attentions  quite  studiously  upon  her.  The 
truth  was  that  she,  with  a  woman's  quick 
intuitions,  had  taken  an  inventory  of  the 
man,  and  had  set  him  down  as  having  large 
liabilities  and  almost  no  assets.  When  the 
guests  of  Mrs.  Martyn  were  about  dispersing, 
Mrs.  Grande  detained  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwin 
at  the  door  to  enlarge  in  very  copious  meas- 
ure upon  the  wonderful  Mr.  Mortimer,  and 
begged  them  to  call  often,  very  often,  while 
he  was  at  her  house.  But  to  this  Mrs.  Gold- 
win  offered  but  scant  response,  whicjh  was 
not  the  kind  of  response  Mrs.  Grande  had  ex- 
pected. The  fact  was  that  Mrs.  Goldwin 
thought  Mr.  Mortimer  with  all  his  easy  man- 
ners and  air  of  elegance,  was  scheming  and 
insincere.  He  had  been  careful  to  speak 
flatteringly  to  her  of  her  husband,  but  he  had 
also  ventured  cynicism  or  haughty  sneer 
concerning  the  people  of  Riverton,  and  then 
he  immediately  discovered  from  Mrs.  Gold- 
win's  reserve  that  his  tactics  were  at  fault. 

"Quite  at  home  in  ancient  classics;  pro- 
fuse in  Latin  fragments,"  said  Mr.  Goldwin 
by  way  of  eliciting  an  opinion  from  Margaret, 


THE    RIVERTON    MINISTER. 


199 


"Rightly  you  call  them  fragments,"  she 
replied,  "for  it  seems  to  me  that  he  quotes 
from  the  dead  languages,  not  like  a  thorough 
scholar  who  almost  thinks  in  them,  but  like 
one  who  has  passed  through  the  banquet  hall 
of  the  Greeks  and  Latins  and  brought  away 
a  few  scraps." 

Mr.  Goldwin  smiled  but  made  no  reply  and 
fell  to  reflecting  on  the  acuteness  of  his  wife's 
intuitions  of  'Character. 

Meanwhile  the  piarisih  of  Mr.  Goldwin  was 
growing  both  in  area  and  in  density  of  popu- 
lation. He  became  every  year  more  widely 
known,  and  was  often  called  to  solemnize  a 
marriage,  or  to  conduct  the  last  sad  rites  of 
the  dead,  at  points  many  miles  distant,  and 
difficult  of  access.  Ri  vert  on  was  enlarging 
and  his  congregations  were  increasing.  Al- 
most every  Sabbath  brought  new  faces  before 
him.  The  school  room  which  the  builders 
had  supposed  to  be  of  ample  dimensions  for 
several  more  years,  was  insufficient  to  accom- 
modate the  audiences.  The  pastor  returning 
from  his  eastern  trip,  seemed,  if  possible,  to 
return  to  his  pulpit  with  a  joy  and  zest  sur- 
passing his  former  ministry,  and  the  large 
Sunday  school  and  the  Bible  class  with  the 
pastor's  wife  for  teacher,  were  enlisting  the 
children,  and  the  young  people.  Parents, 
heretofore  little  accustomed  to  it,  were  now 
beginning  to  drop  in  on  the  Sabbath  services, 
verifying  the  old  word,  "  A  little  child  shall 
lead  them.1' 

Moreover,  as  the  days  passed,  it  became 


200 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


more  and  more  evident  that  something  new 
had  come  to  Kiverton.  It  was  in  the  pulpit 
and  in  the  audience,  and  in  the  Sunday 
school,  and  in  many  of  the  homes.  No  new 
gospel;  no  new  messenger;  no  new  agency 
or  invention;  but  a  new  solemnity  and  atten- 
tiveness.  Something  was  there;  was  in  the 
very  air;  not  noise,  not  simply  excitement, 
not  sensation.  What  more  rational  explana- 
tion than  that  the  Spirit  of  God  was  there? 
"The  Spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of 
the  waters."  Till  something  better  is  given, 
we  do  well  to  accept  this  explanation. 

Kecently  Mr.  Groldwin  had  preceded  the 
Sabbath  evening  service  with  a  short  meet- 
ing for  prayer  and  religious  conversation. 
The  attendance  on  this  informal  meeting  had 
increased  until  now  it  embraced  nearly  the 
whole  of  the  customary  Sabbath  congrega- 
tion. They  who  came  to  the  meeting  seemed 
to  have  one  subject  on  their  hearts  and 
tongues.  Voices  were  heard  of  men  and 
women  and  youth;  simple,  plain,  sometimes 
tearful,  sometimes  very  broken  words;  noth- 
ing new  in  them,  and  yet  there  did  seem  in 
them  a  new  meaning,  and  there  was  in  them 
a  new  thrill.  Chords  long  silent  were 
touched  and  quivered. 

It  is  Sunday  evening.  They  are  going  to 
the  school  house.  Let  us  go  there.  It  is 
early  twilight;  scarcely  time  for  the  prelimi- 
nary meeting.  But  hark!  They  have  begun 
to  sing.  Seats  are  filling  rapidly,  My  eyes! 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER 


201 


There's  Hawkins  in  the  corner  by  the  door. 
And  in  the  next  seat  are  Tim  the  blacksmith 
and  Perkins.  Yonder  on  the  right,  over 
against  the  wall  is  a  sitting  which  commands 
the  ^hole  view.  Since  we  are  here  to  ob- 
serve, we  will  walk  up  and  take  it. 

The  dear  old  hymns  they  are  singing — how 
they  bring  up  old  scenes,  and  'how  they  soften 
o'ur  hearts.  Isabel  and  Sibyl  and  Mrs.  G-oM- 
win,  in  clear  sweet  voice  guide  the  melody. 
That  rich  baritone  a  few  seats  back  of  them 
is  from  Mortimer.  But  it  seems  as  though 
all  were  singing;  even  Chris  and  Jonas  are 
attempting  it,  and  likewise  almost  toothless 
Mrs.  Smile  with  her  quavering  tones. 

Now  a  few  verses  of  Scripture,  a  few  words 
from  the  pastor  which  lie  close  to  his  heart, 
and  his  prayer,  short  and  simple  and  straight 
to  God.  Then  someone  is  singing — a  pure 
little  rill,  soon  joined  by  others,  till  there's 
a  general  wave  of  song. 

With  the  first  opportunity,  Mrs.  Smile  is 
on  her  feet  with  a  word.  Poor  soul!  She's 
a  pessimist  and  doesn't  know  it.  We  wish 
she  could  learn  a  new  strain  and  not  so  often 
whine  and  berate  the  church.  Light  weight; 
but  she  means  well;  and  her  one  talent  she 
never  buries.  On  the  whole,  Mr.  Goldwin 
may  well  congratulate  himself  that  he  is  so 
exempt  from  hobbyists  and  prayer  meeting 
killers. 

Mr.  Barnett  rises.  Everyone  listens  to 
him.  He  ha/s  the  Sunday  school  on  his  heart. 


202 


THE   KIVERTON  MINISTER. 


A  few  words,  and  then  he  kneels  in  a  tender 
plea  to  the  Saviour  for  the  young. 

Mr.  Pierpont  is  on  the  other  side  of  the 
room,  nearly  opposite  to  us.  We  think  we 
see  an  unwonted  gleam  in  his  large  blue  eye. 
There!  his  tall  form  is  rising.  He  is  strug- 
gling with  deep  emotions,  which  the  audience 
percieve  and  vshare;  but  he  controls  his  voice 
and  says:  "This  morning  Mr.  Goldwin  select- 
ed the  words,  'Whatsoever  'he  saith  unto  you 
do  it.'  The  sermon  followed  but  I  could  get 
no  farther  than  those  words.  They  smote 
me.  I  have  been  entrenching  myself  in  •mys- 
teries and  perplexities.  I  have  stnrrvbled  at 
regeneration,  or  what  is  called  the  new  birth. 
I  have  been  lingering,  wondering  whether 
sometime  the  Almighty  would  seize  me,  as 
one  siezes  a  garment,  and  by  a  single  motion 
turn  me  inside  out.  When  that  is  done,  then, 
thought  I,  I  shall  be  converted. 

To  me  thus  halting,  questioning,  perplexed, 
and  excusing  myself  with  my  perplexities, 
Mr.  Goldwin  came  this  morning  with  those 
words,  "Whatsoever  he  saith  unto  you  do 
it.'  God  sent  him  to  me  with  that  message. 
I  could  not  forget  it.  I  could  not, pass  be- 
yond it.  It  pursued  me  to  my  room.  I  felt 
that  the  Lord  was  speaking  to  me.  I  was  in 
agony.  I  cried  out,  'Lord,  I  will,  I  will,  what- 
soever thou  sayest  I  will  do.'  Then  there 
came  to  me  such  a  view  of  the  love  of  Christ; 
oh,  such  as  I  never  had,  never  even  begun  to 
have,  before;  su'ch  a  view  of  his  long,  long 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


203 


patience  with  me,  and  of  my  blindness  and 
of  my  wrong  to  him.  I  said,  'Why  didn't  I 
see  this  before?  How  strange  that  I  didn't! 
Will  he  forgive — can  he  forgive  me?  Nev- 
ertheless, I  said,  I  will  do  what  he  saith.  I 
will  strive  to  obey  him.  I  prayed.  I  read 
my  Bible.  My  agony  left  me.  I  felt  as 
though  I  loved  everybody.  I  had  a  strange 
but  inexpressible  peace." 

"So,  in  obedience  to  this  morning's  text,  I 
have  ventured  these  words  tonight.  Oh,  I 
need  help.  I  am  very  weak.  Won't  yon 
help  me?"  Then  Mr.  Pierpont  alludes  to  his 
dear  mother  who  for  so  many  years  has 
prayed  for  him;  but  his  voice  chokes  and  he 
sits  down. 

For  a  moment  there  is  complete  silence. 
It  is  the  hush  before  a  wind  from  heaven. 

Then  Mrs.  Drake  whose  heart  is  always 
open  heavenward  and  who  appears  always 
to  have  it  given  her  just  what  to  do,  says, 
"Let  us  pray,"  and  it  seems  as  though  every 
one  does  pray. 

Hardly  has  the  prayer  closed,  when  a 
young  girl  arises  and  sobs  out,  "I  want  to 
be  a  Christian.  Pray  for  me."  Do  you 
know  that  she  is  the  daughter  of  O'Flanni- 
gan  the  whisky  seller,  and  is  from  Mrs.  Gold- 
win's  class  in  Sunday  school? 


204 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


Hark!  as  if  in  direct  reply  to  the  girl's  re- 
quest, Mrs.  Gold-win  strikes  up, 

"Jesus,  thou  art  the  sinner's  friend, 

As  such  I  look  to  thee, 
Now  in  the  fullness  of  thy  love, 

I  pray  remember  me." 

It  is  the  plaintive  trustful  strains  of  the 
tune  Naomi,  and  only  three  voices,  Isabel, 
Sybil  and  Mrs.  Goldwin.  The  words  come 
to  our  souls  like  a  fountain  in  the  burning 
desert.  In  the  second  verse  something  gath- 
ers in  Sibyl's  throat,  and  she  buries  'her  face 
in  her  handkerchief.  Her  brother  George- 
how  he  bites  his  lips  and  looks  at  the  win- 
dow and  struggles  against  the  tears  in  his 
eyes. 

Mr.  Goldwin  did  not  preach  that  night. 

This  informal  meeting  ran  on  of  Its  own 
will.  .  No,  that  does  not  adequately  state  the 
fact.  A  will  higher  than  man  led  that  meet- 
ing. The  next  night  found  the  people  again 
in  the  school  house,  and  so  every  night  ex- 
cept Saturday  through  the  wreek.  There  was 
no  noise,  no  animal  excitement,  only  plain 
tender  appeals  to  reason  and  conscience.  It 
seems  as  though  but  one  subject  was  on  the 
mind  of  Riverton,  and  as  though  but  one 
book,  the  Bible,  was  read.  Everyone 
seemed  to  expect  to  converse  on  the  one 
subject.  The  pastor  went  everywhere,  invit- 
ing, urging,  dropping  a  kind  word  here,  a 
timely  suggestion  or  encouragement  there; 


THE   R1VEKTON   MINISTER. 


205 


with  all  ingenuity  and  tact  of  love  pressing 
each  to  immediate  obedience  to  their  divine 
Elder  Brother.  This  personal  pleading,  to- 
gether with  conducting  the  meetings  every 
night,  as  Mrs.  Goldwin  said,  scarcely  allowed 
him  time  to  eat  or  sleep;  then  in  her  sweet 
soft  voice  she  added,  'The  Lord  feedeth  him.' 
His  life  was  one  all  consuming  passion  for 
those  around  him,  and  he  and  his  dear  people 
were  knit  together  like  David  and  Jonathan. 
Prayer  was  offered  in  many  homes  where  it 
had  never  been  heard  before.  Jonas,  Sibyl, 
Deborah  Dale  and  a  number  of  others  who 
stood  just  outside  came  within  the  open  door. 
Their  happy  faces  and  new  joy  naturally 
affected  others  deeply.  Mortimer  was  rest- 
less and  especially  moved  by  whatever  Sibyl 
said  or  did.  He  sometimes  appeared  to  be 
seriously  impressed,  but  kept  himself  forti- 
fied with  doubts  and  skeptical  difficulties. 
He  was  fond  of  walking  home  \\  ith  Mr.  Gold- 
win  after  church,  and  asking  the  how  and 
the  wherefore  of  those  secret  things  which 
belong  to  God.  Mr.  Goldwin  gave  to  him 
precious  time  and  strength  until  Mrs.  Gold- 
win's  patience  was  entirely  exhausted,  and 
setting  down  her  little  decided  fo'ot,  told  Mr. 
Mortimer  that  if  he  heeded  his  plain  undenia- 
ble duty  half  as  diligently  as  he  did  his 
doubts  and  skepticism,  he  would  be  a  model 
of  goodness. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perkins  also  debated   very 
seriously   with    "I    ought."     How   affection- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


ately  Mr.  Goldwin  prayed  with  them  and 
besought  them  not  to  procrastinate.  But 
they  were  bent  on  amassing  a  fortune  and 
were  doing  it.  Lucky  man,  as  the  world 
called  him;  he  never  even  tossed  up  a  penny 
with  an  Indian  but  that  he  won.  He  became 
one  of  the  large  land  owners  of  Indiana,  but 
to  the  great  grief  of  Mr.  Goldwin,  neither  he 
nor  Mrs.  Perkins  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
seek  what  is  better  than  gold.  To  their  dy- 
ing day,  they  never  again  came  so  near  to 
the  Kingdom  of  Life. 

At  O'Flannigan's  home  Mr.  Goldwin  was 
received  very  coldly;  hardly  receivd  at  all. 
The  mother  and  the  daughter  said  nothing, 
and  the  latter  wept  freely,  wMle  the  father 
abused  and  vilified  everything,  and  said  there 
should  be  no  pious  talk  or  praying  in  his 
house.  The  truth  was,  the  people  were  going 
to  the  meetings  and  the  whisky  store  was 
lonely.  O'Flannigan  cordially  hated  Mr. 
Goldwin  for  his  well  known  temperance 
preaching  and  persuading.  The  daughter 
came  no  more  to  the  meetings.  O'Flannigan 
declared  that  if  she  went  he  would  horse- 
whip her. 

Merchant  Martyn  also  felt  the  power  which 
was  manifested  in  those  meetings,  and  his 
dear  little  wife  longed  to  have  him  yield  to 
it.  He  said  religion  was  good  enough  for 
women  and  children,  but,  as  for  him,  he  had 
no  time  for  it.  He  had  pretty  much 
his  own  way,  until  at  last  when  he 


THE   RIVKRTON  MINISTER. 


207 


was  sixty  years  old,  he  lost  his  health 
and  lost  his  property.  It  took  this 
to  bring  him  to  himself.  So,  a  few 
years  before  he  died  he  really  began  to  live. 
Phil.  Arnold,  a  loose  careless  fellow,  who 
applied  his  wits  chiefly  to  dodging  his  cred- 
itors and  the  law,  was  no  sooner  under  the 
control  of  these  better  influences,  than  he 
went  around  paying  his  debts.  Even  Haw- 
kins confessed  that  there  was  something  in 
that  kind  of  religion,  and  Tim  the  blacksmith 
said  ihe  hoped  the  meeting  would  never  stop. 

Ool.  Grande,  always  a  reflection  of  the  pre- 
vailing mood  of  Riverton,  now  attended  the 
meetings  constantly.  He  occasionally  had  a 
word  to  say,  and  finally  on  a  Sunday  evening 
—the  house  crowded  and  many  standing  in 
and  about  the  doorway,  he  brought  out  his 
re>d  handkerchief  with  more  than  usual  flour- 
ish, and  then  narrated  what  he  called  his 
experience.  The  night  previous,  as  it  would 
seem,  he  had  not  only  seen  stars  but  dreamed 
dreams,  in  which  clouds  and  rainbows  and 
birds  and  flowers  and  rivers  and  darkness 
and  demons,  and  angels  and  choirs  were 
strewn  together  in  grotesque  confusion,  and 
there  came  a  voice  to  his  naturally  bewil- 
dered soul,  whispering  "peace,  peace,"  and 
now  he  was  haippy,  and  firmly  resolved  that 
for  the  future  his  should  be  a  religious  life. 
This  experience  given  by  Ool.  Grande  was  all 
news  to  Mrs.  Grande,  as  well  as  to  the  rest 
of  the  audience.  She  did  hope  it  was  true. 


208 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


There  was  need  enough  of  better  living. 
She  ought  to  be  a  better  woman,and  then  she 
could  strengthen  her  husband.  Such  were 
her  thoughts  and  resolves. 

Poor  Ool.  Grande!  In  a  few  months 
every  vestige  of  his  religion  had  fled,  and, 
like  his  stars  and  dreams,  left  no  trace 
behind.  Perhaps,  after  all,  he  was  not  so 
insincere  as  he  was  shallow. 

And  there  was  Albert  Slade,  an  odd  genius 
everybody  said,  a  wood  chopper,  bachelor, 
lived  by  himself  in  a  lone  cabin.  Hje  was  a 
misanthrope,  or  in  common  parlance,  was 
soured  on  everybody.  Sunday  was  to  him 
like  other  days,  except  that  he  chopped  a 
little  longer,  or  discharged  his  hunting  piece 
oftener,  and  swore  harder,  on  that  than 
on  other  days. 

One  day  last  spring  Mr.  Goldwin  rambled 
out  to  Slade's  premises  and  chatted  with  him 
about  everything  under  the  sun  except  reli- 
gion,— a  thing  which  rather  pleased  and  yet 
puzzled  Slade,  if  not  by  a  few  shades  disap- 
pointed him,  for  he  was  loaded,  cocked  and 
primed  for  the  parson  on  religion.  Some- 
thing moved  this  recluse  to  drop  into  the 
meetings.  He  swore  about  them;  said  he 
wouldn't  go  again;  declared  them  to  be  half 
fanaticism  and  half  hypocrisy;  but  when 
night  came,  he  found  himself  at  the  meet- 
ings. He  slipped  in  and  out  alone,  and  no 
one  conversed  with  him.  Mr.  Barnett,  ap- 
parently by  accident,  although  in  truth  of 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


very  serious  intent,  came  upon  him  chopping 
wood  one  day  and  talked  with  him, — wisely 
refrained  from  controversy  or  argument,  but 
kneeled  down  and  prayed  with  him.  Not 
everyone  could  have  done  this  with  Slade 
and  not  been  insulted. 

He  had  been,  when  a  boy,  under  that  kind 
of  instruction  which,  in  effect,  robbed  mail 
of  spiritual  responsibility,  and  left  him 
bound  band  and  foot  in  the  f orordination  and 
decrees  of  God.  His  whole  nature  revolted 
from  such  teaching,  and  yet  he  had  been 
trained  and  wound  up  in  it,  an'd  was  full  of 
hostility  to  a  God  and  a  Bible  which  he  sup- 
posed must  inculcate  it;  and  here,  hundreds 
of  miles  from  his  kindred,  in  the  woods  with 
his  axe,  gun,  and  little  cabin,  he  had  flattered 
himself  that  he  had  gotten  clear  of  all  bother 
about  religion;  and  now  to  his  great  vexa- 
tion,religion  had  once  more  hunted  him  out. 
Sometimes  lie  said,  "I'll  take  my  axe  and  gun 
and  dog  and  strike  out  for  the  Mississippi  or 
the  Kocky  Mountains."  Sometimes  he  said, 
"What  am  I  running  away  from?  Might  as 
well  have  it  out  where  I  am."  Thus  he  de- 
bated and  wrestled  with  himself,  till  at  last 
he  could  scarcely  eat  or  sleep.  Sometimes  in 
the  overflowing  congregation  he  could  hardly 
refrain  from  springing  to  his  feet  and  crying 
Lost!  Lost!  Lost! 

One  night  Mr.  Goldwin  read  to  the  audi- 
ence from  the  Psalm  137.  When  he  came 
to  the  seventh  verse,  he  paused,  fixed  his 


210 


THE   KIVEKTOX  MINISTER. 


ejres  upon  the  people,  or,  a>s  Blade  thought, 
upon  him,  and,  his  voice  tremulous  with  emo- 
tion, quoted,  "Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy 
Spirit?"  Instantly  Slade  leaped  to  his  feet 
and  cried,  "That's  my  question.  I've  bee» 
trying  to  rim  awaj7  from  the  Spirit  of  God. 
I  give  it  up.  I  can't  do  it  Oh,  pray  for  me. 
I'm  lost;"  and  sunk  down  exhausted  and 
trembling  with  agony. 

The  next  morning,  as  Tim  was  blowing  his 
forge,  Hawkins  dropped  in  and  at  once  bega* 
"Well,  Tim,  I've  heard  a  piece  of  news  this 
morning  that  beats  me.  Wife  says  the  revi- 
val meetings  have  caug*ht  'Bert  Slade.' ' 

"WJiat!  You  don't  mean  it?  You're 
joking,"  exclaimed  Tiin  as  he  suddenly 
stopped  plying  his  bellows. 

"No  fooling.  Guess  its  all  so,"  said  Haw- 
kins. 

"Well,  well,  I  vow!  Who'd  a  believed  it? 
Why,  they'll  get  you  and  me  next!"  replied 
Tim. 

"When  they  get  me,"  replied  Hawkins, 
"there'll  be  a  mighty  scuffling  around,  for 
then  the  devil  '11  be  dead." 

"John  Barnes,  they  say,  has  been  sober  a 
week,"  said  Socrates  Dale  to  his  wife,  as  they 
sat  down  to  breakfast.  "Begins  to  look 
more  like  a  man." 

"Thank  the  Lord  for  that,"  exclaimedMrs. 
Dale  fervently.  She,  in  common  with  other 
women  of  the  church,  had  taken  a  deep 
interest  in  the  Barnes  family,  and  extended 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


211 


kind  motherly  wings  over  the  poor  mother- 
less children.  Death  had  brought  blessed 
relief  to  Mrs.  Barnes,  and  the  wee  babe, 
which  slept  in  the  mother's  arms  in  the  same 
grave.  The  kind  women  had  supposed  it 
would  be  necessary  to  separate  the  children 
and  provide  homes  for  them  wherever  they 
could.  But  little  womanly  Laura  begged  so 
hard  to  be  allowed  to  keep  her  little  brother 
an>d  sisters  around  her,  and  cried  so  at  the 
mention  of  separating  them,  that  Mrs.  Gold- 
win,  Mrs.  Dale,  Isabel,  Rachel  and  the  rest 
held  a  council  and  decided  to  gratify  Laura, 
and  preserve  the  home,  for  a  time  at  least; 
and  meanwhile  they  agreed  to  exercise  a  good 
Samaritan  protctorate  over  it.  Laura  and 
the  little  ones  still  clung  to  their  Papa,  in 
spite  of  his  drunkenness;  and  there  was  a 
forlorn  hope  that  their  appealing  faces  might 
awaken  the  man  in  him. 

Dr.  Bancroft  had  kept  Barnes  about  his 
office  for  several  days,  under  pretense  of  his 
doing  little  jobs  and  errands  for  him.  And 
so  now,  notwithstanding  O'Flannigan  &  Co., 
he  had  really  been  sober  a  week.  At  first 
he  shrank  from  all  meetings,  ashamed,  both 
of  himself  and  his  shabby  clothes;  but  by 
some  female  strategy,  ere  long  he  appeared  in 
better  clothes,  and  Mr.  Barnett  brought  him 
into  the  meetings,  and  through  the  crowded 
aisle,  up  to  a  front  seat. 

One  Sunday  morning,  among  those  who  en- 
listed under  the  banner  of  the  Saviour  was 


212 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


John  Barnes  and  Little  Laura,  and  more  than 
one  pair  of  eyes  wept  for  joy  over  this  signal 
victory.  For  if  there  was  anybody  who  had 
been  considered  by  all  Riverton  to  be  beyond 
rescue,  it  was  John  Barnes. 

In  truth,  it  must  be  admitted  that  once, 
a  month  or  more  later,  John  fell.  One  morn- 
ing he  found  a  bottle  of  rum  out  by  the  wood 
pile.  Who  put  it  there  no  one  knew.  Yes, 
everyone  thought  that  O'Flannigan,  and, 
perhaps,  his  comrades  knew.  Mr.  Goldwin 
and  others  immediately  sought  John  out  and 
hardly  left  him  for  several  days.  But  this 
was  the  last  lapse.  John  bitterly  repented 
and  never  drank  again. 

Dr.  Bancroft  had  attended  every  meeting, 
so  far  as  his  professional  calls  allowed  but 
only  as  a  silent  spectator  ;and  what  seemed  so 
contrary  to  his  habit,  conversed  as  little  as 
possible  about  what  was  then  the 
theme  of  Riverton.  He  had  been  in  his  youth- 
ful days  enfolded  within  the  church,  and  he 
had  never  forgotten  nor  forsaken  his  early 
committal.  Yet  he  had  passed  through  try- 
ing scenes,  and  had  been  involved  to  some 
extent  in  moral  bewilderment  and  innert- 
ness.  However,  though  he  was  silent,  fce 
was  musing  and  the  fire  was  burning. 

One  night  Mrs.  Goldwin  and  others  had 
sung  very  tenderly: 

"But  floods  of  tears  can  ne'er  repay 

The  debt  of  love  I  owe; 
Here,  Lord,  I  give  myself  away, 

>Tis  all  that  I  can  do." 


THE   RIVERTOX    MINISTER. 


213 


Hardly  had  the  sound  of  these  words  died 
away,'  when  the  expansive  form  of  Dr.  Ban- 
croft was  seen  rising.  There  was  stlence 
which  continued  and  grew  until  it  was  almost 
audible  and  painful,  as  the  Doctor  deliber- 
ately, slowly,  passed  his  eyes  over  the  hushed 
and  expectant  audience,  struggled  for  what 
seemed  many  moments  with  a  torrent  of 
emotion,  and  trembling  under  it  like  an  oak 
in  the  tempest,  at  length  sat  down  without 
uttering  a  word.  The  thoughtful  stillness 
which  followed  this  mute  address  was  as  the 
voice  of  the  Lord.  After  that,  the  Doctor 
for  the  rest  of  his  days  found  ready  and  ear- 
nest voice,  and  to  the  delight  of  Iris  auditors, 
for  he  was  prone  to  have  something  to  say, 
and  he  had  a  character  behind  his  words 
which  emphasized  them. 

Mrs.  Goldwin  counted  it  her  crowning  joy 
that  it  was  given  to  her  to  see  all  her  Bible 
class  entered  on  the  Christian  way;  and 
many  pupils  of  the  Sunday  School  made 
at  this  time  the  blessed  turning  point  of  their 
lives. 

Mr.  Goldwin's  work  was  four  square; 
reconstructed  those  of  every  age,  rank  and 
condition.  Work  brought  the  pastor  work; 
success  augmented  responsibility  and  solici- 
tude, but  also  endowed  him  with  new  and 
higher  strength  and  joy.  Everyone,  even 
the  haters  of  Christianity,  in  their  inmost 
soul  confessed  that  this  religious  movement, 
so  memorable  in  the  history  of  Riverton,  was 


214 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


inspired  and  led  by  a  power  above  man.  As 
Mrs.  Goldwin  and  Mrs.  Drake  affirmed,  "It 
is  the  Lord's  doing,  and  it  is  marvellous  in 
our  eyes." 

This  spiritual  awakening  illuminated  the 
fact  that  Christianity  is  practical;  that  it  is 
the  Spirit  and  teachings  of  Christ  vitalizng 
the  whole  man  and  the  whole  living,  every 
social  relation  and  obligation,  even  as  the 
blood  vitalizes  every  particle  of  the  body. 
This  moral  eye-opener  evinced  that  when 
religion  is  Biblical  it  is  all-inclusive,  covers 
the  field  of  human  action;  carries  onward 
temperance,  honesty,  purity,  industry,  uni- 
versal right  doing,  as  the  sun  carries  not 
only  light,  but  verdure  and  harvest. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Two  years  have  elapsed  between  this  and 
the  last  chapter.  On  a  partly  opened, 
ungraded  street,  which  respectfully  turns 
out  for  giant  trees  and  stumps,  but  which 
ambitious,  expectant  Rivertoii  calls  Broad- 
way, 'stand's  a  neat  frame  church.  You  of 
the  lofty  nave  and  long  aisles,  gothic  win- 
dows radiant  with  the  saints  and  sacred  sym- 
bols, blushing  upholstery,  paneled  and  fres- 
coed ceilings,  and  rising  over  all  ihe  stately 
and  awesome  dome,  can  scarcely  know  the 
joy  with  which  those  modest  walls  went  up 
in  this  potentially  and  prospectively  import- 
ant city  of  Indiana.  Riverton  was  glad  and 
rejoiced  in  her  first  house  of  worship.  Some 
had  contributed  timbers,  others  siding,  oth- 
ers flooring,  others  shingles.  Some  had 
given  many  a  day  of  work  on  the  building. 

To  be  sure,  every  net  draws  all  sorts  of 
fis'h,  and  church  nets  are  no  exception  to  this 
rale.  There  was  Mrs.  "Rosso n.  She  and  her 
husband  were  nicely  .settled, prosperous  and 
well-'to-dOjOn  a  large  farm.  After  the  floor  was 
laid,  but  before  the  seats  were  placed,  the 
ladies  provided  a  dinner  in  the  church,  and 
rallied  the  people  to  dine,  and  to  bring  their 
free  will  offerings.  Now,  previously,  Mrs, 


216 


THE   RIVEKTON   MINISTER. 


conspicuously  urged  that  the  dinner 
should  be  upon  a  large  and  sumptuous  scale. 
"Let's  have  a  magnificent  dinner,  chicken 
pie,  turkey,  salads,  mince  pies  and  everything 
good,'"  she  urged;  and  Mrs.  Martyn,  chair- 
man of  the  committee  on  refreshments, 
highly  delighted  and  encouraged  by  Mrs. 
Rosson's  exhortations  to  liberality,  drew  out 
memorandum  book  and  pencil  and  exclaimed, 
"Good  for  you,  Mrs.  Rosson;  just  the  one  I 
want  to  head  my  list;  tell  me  what  you  will 
contribute,  and  I  will  jot  it  right  down." 

"Oh,  well,"  said  Mrs.  Rosson,  at  once  drop- 
ping down  to  a  low  drawling  tone,  "well — 
well — I  guess — I  guess — I  can  bring  a  little 
milk — and — and"  then  she  paused,  and  twist- 
ed her  bonnet  strings  and  paused.  After 
waiting  a  painful  instant,  Mrs.  Martin  re- 
newed her  inquiry,  but  made  no  advance. 

"Mrs.  Rosson,  I  am  waiting  to  write  down 
your  contribution,  turkey,  chicken  pie,  etc." 
Mrs.  Rosson  turned  this  way  and  that,  stud- 
ied and  paused,  started,  stammered  and 
stopped,  but  did  not  get  beyond  "A  little 
milk — and—  Finally,  after  waiting  what 
seemed  ages,  and  while  ill  suppressed  smiles 
were  on  every  countenance,  Mrs.  Martyn, 
putting  pencil  to  paper,  said,  "Very  well,  Mrs. 
Rosson,  I  will  write  it  down  then." 

Mrs.  Rosson — "A  little  milk — and — "  Can 
you  wonder  that  among  the  workers  of  the 
church,  one  lady  came  to  be  known  as  Mrs. 
"A  little  milk— and— "? 


THE   KIVEKTOX    .MINISTKK. 


217 


Mrs.  Steele  was  a  woman  of  quite  differ- 
ent type  from  Mrs.  Bosson;  a  brisk,  petite, 
enthusiastic  body;  liberal,  very  liberal — so 
long  as  she  was  allowed  her  own  way.  She 
had  a  very  sharp  "I  will"  and  "I  won't,"  and 
was  needles  and  daggers  to  everybody  who 
did  not  smile  serenely  and  submissively  on 
her  domineering.  The  las'h,  too,  which  she 
applied  indiscriminately  and  repeatedly  to 
those  who  differed  from  her,  was  the  threat, 
"Well,  if  you  don't  do  thus  and  so,  111  leave 
the  church."  But  at  last  that  las'h  wore  out 
and  the  whip  stalk  broke. 

Now,  it  happened  at  this  very  time, 
when  the  ladies  of  the  congregation  were  ar- 
ranging for  the  aforesaid  dinner,  that  some 
of  them  were  cushioning  Mr.  Goldwin's  pul- 
pit tastefully,  and  Mrs.  Steele  was,  as  usual, 
in  and  around,  and,  strange  to  say,  they 
drew  the  line  with  Mrs.  Steele,  on  a  thing  as 
small  as  a  pulpit  tassel. 

"A  tassel  dangling  from  the  pulpit!  No, 
niever.  It's  altogether  too  worldly.  I'd  as 
soon  think  of  having  a  tassel  on  my  coffin. 
If  the  pulpit's  going  to  be  tassel ed  out,  I 
won't  come  to  church.  I  won't  have  my  mind 
diverted  in  the  house  of  God  by  tassels," 
exclaimed  the  explosive  Mrs.  Steele. 

Not  that  the  good  women  of  the  church 
'hung  so  very  much  on  that  tassel,  but  they 
felt  that  Mrs.  Steele  had  made  her  accus- 
tomed threat  quite  long  enough.  And  so, 
Mrs.  Steele  found  ste  had  made  it  just  once 


218 


THE  RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


too  often.  The  tassel  hung  from  the  cush- 
ion, and  Mrs.  Steele  was  quietly,  though 
regretfully  taken  at  her  word,  and  permitted 
to  withdraw  from  the  church.  But  the 
church  dinner  came  off  very  successfully 
notwithstanding;  and  Mrs.  Steel e  lived  to 
mourn  her  stubborn  and  ill-tempered  action, 
and  to  bite  her  lips  with  hiian illation,  as  she 
saw  how  prosperously  affairs  moved  on  in 
the  Iliverton  church  without  her  money  or 
her  measures.  However,  Mrs.  Kosson  and 
Mrs.  Steele  were  quite  the  exception,so  please 
do  not  guage  the  church  or  the  people  of 
Riverton  by  them. 

The  church  edifice  having,  as  we  have 
said,  been  completed,  Rev.  Dr.  Ball,  of  Orans- 
toii,  preached  the  dedication  sermon.  He 
gloried  in  being  called  the  great  champion 
of  orthodoxy,  and  seemed  to  think  it  his 
duty  to  stiffen  "the  young  brother's"  theol- 
ogy. Dr.  Ball  was  of  the  s'chool  that  thought 
there  was  great  danger  of  assuming  to  take 
God's  work  out  of  His  hands,  and  that  any- 
thing which  was  really  a  doctrine  of  freedom 
of  the  human  will,  was  a  doctrine  of  devils. 
He  had  much  to  say  about  "our  book,"  and 
at  first  the  congregation  at  Kiverton  snip- 
posed  that  he  referred  to  the  Bible;  but  Dr. 
Ball  soon  made  it  very  clear,  that  with  him,, 
"our  book,"  was  the  Westminster  Confession 
of  Faith.  He  inquired  of  the  officers  of  the 
church  whether  Mr.  Goldwin  had  been  faith- 
ful in  drilling  his  new  members  in  "the 


THE   1MVKKTOX   MINISTER. 


219 


book."  I  don't  know  as  to  that,"  said  Bro. 
Barnett,  "but  I  believe  he  is  still  drilling 
them  in  the  Bible,  and  I  hardly  see  how  he 
could  do  better  with  beginners  than  that." 
Dr.  Ball  also  asked,  "Does  Bro.  Goldwin 
warn  'his  people  against  New  England 
heterodoxy,  and  above  all,  against  Oberlin- 
ism,  and  the  "New  Measures?"  "Doctor 
Ball,"  said  Bro.  Drake,  "perhaps  I'm  not  well 
up  in  mew  measures,  and  that  sort  o'  thing, 
but  I  believe  our  pastor  in  his  preaching 
brings  forth  things  new  and  old."  Doctor 
Bancroft  overhearing  the  Minister's  ques- 
tion concerning  New  England  heterodoxy 
and  "New  Measures,"  felt  his  loyalty  to  dear 
old  Massachusetts  stirred  within  him,  and 
so,  joining  in  the  conversation,  said,  "excuse 
me,  Dr.  Ball,  but  I  am  interested  in  what- 
ever is  said  about  New  England,  for  my  early 
home  was  on  her  soil,  and  I  love  her,  and  be- 
lieve in  her  too;  for  she  believes  with  John 
Robinson,  that  more  light  is  yet  to  break 
forth  from  God's  Word.  If  that  is  heterod- 
oxy, then  you  will  have  to  count  me  a  here- 
tic. And  as  to  new  measures,  in  my  profes- 
sion we  don't  care  a  fig  whether  they  are  new 
or  old,  if  only  they  meet  the  disease.  This 
was  said  with  gentlemanly  deference,  albeit 
with  something  of  Dr.  Bancroft's  directness 
and  pith. 

Dr.  Ball,  too,  was  one  of  those  who 
declared  himself  a  believer  in  the  "divine 
institution  of  slavery."  At  the  spring  meet- 


220 


THE   UIVEBTON  MINISTER. 


ing  of  the  scattered  churches,  he  had  taken 
occasion  to  read  the  young  Bro.  Goldwln  and 
several  others  a  lecture.  It  was  somewhat 
of  an  honor  to  be  chosen  to  represent  the 
local  organization  in  the  national  body.  Mr. 
Goldwin  had  been  associated  with  these  pas- 
tors and  churches  for  six  or  seven  years,  and 
it  was  quite  generally  believed  by  the  breth- 
ren that  it  was  due  him  that  he  should  be 
elected  to  represent  them  in  the  national 
convocation.  But,  as  afterward  appeared, 
Dr.  Ball  had  been  quietly  manipulating  some 
of  the  brethren,  declaring  to  them  that  it  was 
of  paramount  importance  that  strong  cham- 
pions of  the  "standards,"  and  of  strict  de- 
nominationalism,  should  be  sent  to  represent 
the  West  in  the  national  meeting,  and  that 
these  New  England  men  were  altogether  too 
liberal  and  undenominational.  "The  Great 
West,"  said  he,  wants  the  "true  blue;"  we 
must  beware  of  wolves,  etc.  All  this,  of 
course,  implied,  as  it  was  designed  it  should; 
"I,  Dr.  Ball,  am  your  man;  send  me." 

But  to  the  surprise  of  no  one  of  the  minis- 
ters, perhaps,  except  Dr.  Ball,  Mr.  Goldwin 
was  elected  with  only  one  dissenting  vote,  to 
be  their  representative.  Dr.  Ball,  unable  to 
conceal  his  disappointment  and  chagrin,  at 
once  arose,  and  launched  out  on  a  presenta- 
tion of  the  beauties  of  the  patriarchial  insti- 
tution, and  on  the  providential  wisdom 
which  ordained  that  the  children  of  Ham 
should  serve  the  sons  of  Shem,  and  declared 


THE  R1VERTON  MINISTER. 


221 


woe  upon  those  who  refused  what  the 
Almighty  had  so  clearly  foreordained.  Then 
waxing  warm,  he  fiercely  howled  against 
loose  doctrine,  and  vowed  that  the  Bible  was 
enough  for  him,  and  it  declared  that  our 
children  go  astray  as  soon  as  they  be  born, 
speaking  lies.  One  brother  interjected  right 
here  that  his  children  were  not  so  precocious 
as  that;  but  Dr.  Ball  did  not  deign  to  notice 
him.  Another  remarked  that  the  words 
which  the  Doctor  had  quoted,  were  from  the 
poetry  of  David,  and  must  not  be  interpreted 
in  prosaic  literalism.  To  this,  Dr.  Ball 
replied,  "I  must  take  this  Bible  as  it  reads. 
To  this  came  the  rejoinder,  "Our  Saviour 
said,  'Unless  ye  eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  ye  have  no  life  in  you.'  Take  it  literally 
do  you,  Dr.  Ball?" 

Dr.  Ball  delivered  the  dedication  sermon; 
occupied  the  pulpit  both  Sabbath  morning 
and  evening;  but  failed  to  receive  the  ful- 
some adulation  on  which  his  vanity  loved  to 
feed,  and  rode  out  of  Kiverton  less  inflated 
than  when  he  rode  in.  Mortimer  and  Geo. 
Tupper  irreverently  agreed  that  "he  talked 
as  though  he  was  private  secretary  to  the 
Almighty."  Refined  Mrs.  Martyn  thought 
"It  was  a  thousand  pities  that  the  new  walls 
should  be  discolored  with  so  much  fire  and 
brimstone.  Dr.  Bancroft,  always  quoting 
Shakespeare,  sniffed  and  said,  "Full  of  sound 
and  fury,  signifying  nothing;"  and  dear  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Goldwin  hung  their  heads  in  mute 


222  THE  RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 

disappointment.  Poor  Col.  Grande  was 
provoked  enough,  because  he  found  nothing 
to  remind  him  of  Henry  Clay.  Nevertheless, 
the  next  Sunday,  Mr.  Goldwin  preached  in 
review  of  the  history  of  the  little  church, 
and  so  full  of  tender  pathos,  so  bright  with 
faith  and  hope,  so  warm  with  re-creating  love 
was  the  sermon,that  Pierpont  and  Mrs.Drake 
expressed  the  universal  sentiment  when  they 
said,  "Now,  our  church  is  dedicated." 

But  let  us  not  come  down  too  heavily  on 
Dr.  Ball.  His  mind  was  cast  in  a  narrow 
mould;  his  imagination  was  exceedingly 
scant;  so  that  in  forming  his  sentiments  and 
judgments,  lie  seemed  unable  to  put  himself 
in  the  place  of  the  "other  fellow."  His  poli- 
tics and  theology  were  his,not  by  personal  in- 
vestigation,but  by  inheritance.  Intellectually 
he  lived  in  the  house  his  forefathers  built, 
and  carefully  excluded  from  it  every  modern 
discovery  and  invention.  He  dwelt  in  the 
light  of  other  days.  He  fell  heir  to  a  family 
tree  of  inveterate  prejudices;  which  tree  he 
faithfully  watered  and  fertilized.  What 
man  is  free  from  prejudice?  Let  him  who  is 
without  it  cast  the  first  stone. 

If  Doctor  Ball  and  Mr  Goldwin  differed 
somewhat  in  phrasing  their  theology  they 
differed  more  in  the  spirit  in  whidh  they 
held  it.  One  would  have  his  "pound  of 
flesh,"  because  it  was  "so  nominated  in  the 
bond,"  perfectly  heartless  of  consequences. 
The  other,  while  baiting  naught  from  recti- 
tude, nor  one  jot  from  the  doctrines  of  the 


Bible,  entreated  and  patiently  lured  to  the 
door  of  Mercy  which  the  Pierced  Hands  held 
wide  open. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwiu  were  as  two  musical 
instruments  which  were  exceedingly  unlike 
and  yet  in  perfect  accord.  They  looked 
with  their  own  eyes,  but  in  the  same  blessed 
light,  and  animated  by  the  same  motive. 
Their  love  for  each  other  was  not  blind,  not 
idolatry;  more  choice,  more  discerning  far. 
Mr.  Goldwin's  hearers  had  become  accus- 
tomed to  expect  from  him  something  to  think 
about,  something  to  carry  away  which  sent 
warmth  into  their  hearts  all  the  week.  No 
make-believe,  nothing  thin  or  vapid  could 
satisfy  Mr.  Goldwin  ,and  he  always  brought 
his  best  to  his  people.  He  poured  out  his 
soul  without  stint.  Hence  his  preaching 
was  very  exhausting  to  him. 

Mrs.  Goldwin  was  a  discerning  Hstener,and 
a  critic  affectionate  and  appreciative,  while 
faithful  and  acute.  Their  life  was  a  study 
and  practice  of  the  art  of  presenting  the 
truth  so  that  others  would  receive  it  and 
obey  it.  Woman's  bright  intuition  and 
heart-sensing  form  the  complement  of  men's 
logic  and  reasoning.  The  ancient  mouse  in 
the  corner  of  the  parson's  study,  or  the  gar- 
rulous cricket  on  the  hearth,  enjoyed  rare 
privileges. 

Margaret  soon  discovered  that  a  certain 
button  on  her  husband's  coats,  even  on  those 
which  were  almost  new,  was  torn  off,  and  on 


224 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


observing  closely,  saw  that  while  "thinking 
on  his  legs"  before  an  audience,  his  mental 
twisting  sought  relief  in  twisting  his  button, 
and  that  when  that  button  was  off,  his 
thoughts  were  apt  to  be  somewhat  off  like 
the  learned  and  eloquent  Neander,  who 
could  not  get  on  in  his  lecture,  unless  he  had 
meanwhile  a  quill  in  hds  hand  to  tear  to 
pieces. 

Margaret  realized  too,  that,  as  with  most 
men,  her  husband's  better  thinking,  ordi- 
narily at  least,  was  attained  only  with  elab- 
orate use  of  the  pen;  and  that  in  speaking 
from  brief  notes  or  from  none,  he  was  liaible 
to  be  unnecessarily  repititious,  and  to  be 
thrown  off  his  track  by  unexpected  circum- 
stances. In  fine,  she  encouraged  him  to 
write  many  of  his  sermons  and  deliver  them 
from  manuscript. 

He  always  read  naturally  and  effectively, 
and  the  majority  of  his  hearers  came  to  pre- 
fer his  written  discourses.  Indeed,  he  gen- 
erally so  enlisted  attention  to  his  sermon 
that  the  fact  of  its  being  written  or  unwrit- 
ten was  hardly  considered. 

Margaret,  also,  with  her  acute  ear,  was 
ever  on  the  alert  to  strangle  that  little  imp, 
"the  preacher  tone,"  which  so  often  steals 
into  the  preacher's  throat.  "Solemncholy 
tone,"  the  wags  fitly  call  it.  "Preach,"  said 
she,  "in  the  inflections  and  cadences  of  ear- 
nest and  absorbing  conversation." 

No     one     more   readily     and    thoroughly 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


225 


responded  to  Mr.  Goldwin's  high  and 
uplifting,  thinking  and  spiritual  discerning 
than  did  Margaret,  and  they  ministered  rare 
comfort  and  assurance  to  each  other.  Mar- 
garet's appreciation,  above  all  others,  went 
straight  to  the  heart  of  her  husband,  and 
lifted  him  over  many  a  discouragement.  He, 
also,  although  knowing  little  of  the  minutiae 
of  household  affairs,  had  a  keen  and  kindly 
appreciation  of  the  patience  and  good  cheer 
with  which  she  met  the  thousand  little  cares 
and  annoyances  which  will  enter  the  daily 
domestic  round  of  every  well  ordered  home. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  last  bell  is  striking,  and  the  last  feet 
are  hurrying  to  "Morning  Chapel."  A  mo- 
ment, and  the  little  call  bell  on  the  princi- 
pal's desk  rings  one  vigorous  note;  and  the 
accurate  little  teacher  on  the  left  of  the 
principal,  record  book  and  long  pencil  in 
hand,  in  tones  quick  and  sharp  as  the  bell, 
calls  the  roll  which  she  is  correcting  and  per- 
fecting for  the  new  school  year.  One  hun- 
dred names  of  young  lady  pupils;  down  the 
alphabet  amid  the  Browns  and  the  Clarks, 
and  Johnsons  and  Joneses,  into  the  large 
family  of  Smiths.  Now  she  is  in  the  "T's;" 
Tabor,  Talcott,  Thomas,  Tupper,  "Sibyl  Tup- 
per!"  "Present."  Ho,  ho!  we  do  know  that 
name  and  that  voice.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  say  that  we  are  in  a  ladies'  seminary,  and 
it  is  among  the  hills  of  New  England.  But 
by  what  fortune  is  Sibyl  Tupper  found  so  far 
from  home?  We'll  turn  back  to  Riverton 
and  see. 

Majestic  and  bland  Edward  Mortimer 
careers  over  that  town.  Its  people,  for  whom 
he  professes  so  much  esteem,  are  to  him  of 
no  more  concern  than  so  many  lost  pins. 
Possibly  that  same  people  are  shrewder  than 
he  supposes.  Wit  and  wisdom  are  the 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


227 


monopoly  of  no  clime  or  cloth.  Mortimer 
does  not  perceive — and  if  he  did,  little  would 
he  care, — that  Rachel  Drake  detects  the  base 
metal  under  the  thin  gold  wash.  He  says, 
"She's  too  pious;  as  for  the  Dale  girls,  they 
are  too  common  dust.  Col.  Grande's  daugh- 
ter is  too  willing.  But  the  Tappers,  yes  the 
Tuppers!  there's  blood  there.  Isabel;  she's 
a  chilly  subject;  but  Sibyl,  ah!  Sibyl!  she's 
my  prize." 

First  music  opens  the  gate.  How  often 
evil  is  set  to  music.  Some  half  a  dozen  per- 
sons stop  after  church,  to  run  over  a  new 
sacred  song.  Sibyl  sings  alto  and  Mortimer 
sings  bass,  and  so  they  naturally  sit  together, 
and  sometimes  have  to  sing  from  the  same 
book.  Some  strains  in  the  tune  the  have  just 
sung  remind  Mortimer  of  a  very  pretty 
duet;  he  hums  the  air  to  Sibyl;  she  would 
like  so  much  to  learn  it.  He  thinks  he  has 
the  music  at  his  room;  has  played  it  on  his 
flute.  "O,  Mr.  Mortimer,  do  you  play  the 
flute?  Come  to  our  house  and  bring  your 
flute.  Do."  In  vain  he  protests  that  he 
only  plays  a  little  for  his  own  amusement. 
"Do  come;  you  must  come.  It'll  be  per- 
fectly elegant."  The  flute  player  calls  at 
the  Tuppers.  They  admire  him.  Before 
long  he  comes  again.  This  time  Miss  Isabel 
has  a  dreadful  headache,  and  does  not  ap- 
pear, so,  exactly  as  he  would  have  it,  IIP 
spends  the  evening  with  Sibyl. 

It  is  to  us  the  refinement  of  cruelty  tor  a 


228 


THE   KIVKRTO.X   MINISTER. 


man  like  Mortimer,  so  low  in  his  ideals,  so 
impure  in  his  intentions,  deliberately  to  set 
to  work  to  gain  the  affections  of  a  noble, 
immaculate  girl,  such  as  is  Sibyl.  Yet,  in 
plain  prose,  this  is  what  some  men  lay  them- 
selves out  to  accomplish.  Like  unto  street 
boys  who  have  no  apreciation  of  flowers,  but 
go  around  and  beg  them,  so  that  they  may 
pull  them  to  pieces!  One  would  almost  ex 
pect  heaven  would  straightway  interpose 
to  prevent  such  diabolical  plots.  And  yet, 
often  it  seems  as  though  the  Fates  conspire 
with  the  villain.  Everything  seemed  to 
throw  Mortimer  and  Sibyl  together.  Did  sh;* 
go  out  for  a  walk,  or  did  she  step  down  the 
street,  by  some  chance  he  wrould  fall  in  with 
her.  Always  so  courteous,  gallant,  and 
exquisitely  deferential,  while  gradually  and 
tentatively  exhibiting  a  tenderness  and 
warmth,  he  steadily  wrought  his  way  into 
that  unsuspecting  heart. 

Was  seriousness  the  word?  None  more 
serious,  penitential,  and  religious  than  he. 
Hear  him  declare  that  he  adores  Mr.  Goldwin 
ami  knows  that  he  is  just  the  one  to  do  him 
good;  but  he  does  wonder  why  he  should  be 
so  beset  and  harrassed  and  tormented  with 
mysteries  and  dark  things.  And,  subtle 
reader  of  the  heart,  he  bemoaned  himself  the 
more,  because  thus  he  drew  upon  himself 
Sibyl's  sympathies  and  prayers  and  yearn- 
ings. How  it  drew  her  whole  soul  to  him,  to 
hear  him  say  in  well  feigned  grief,  that,  "He 


THE    UIVKKTOX    MINISTER. 


229 


did  not  seem  organized  so  that  he  could  be- 
lieve." 

Sibyl  gave  him  the  love  of  her  ardent  and 
untarnished  nature.  The  thrill  of  pleasure 
which  shot  through  her 'being,  as  she  sat  in 
church  and  knew  by  the  rich  voice  in  song, 
that  Mortimer  was  sitting  behind  her! 

One  evening  Mortimer  seemed  unusually 
affectionate  and  tender.  He  fell  into  a  pa- 
thetically reminiscent  vein.  Jle  had  often 
held  Sibyl  s,pell  bound  with  his  graphic 
descriptions  of  foreign  lands,  and  especially 
of  London;  of  Windsor  Castle  with  its  ser- 
vice of  silver  and  gold,  valued  at  more  than 
ten  million  dollars;  of  the  peacock  of  precious 
stones;  of  Kensington  Gardens,  and .  the 
parks  and  cathedrals  and  the  wonderful  mu- 
sic; and  of  his  un€le's  palace  and  grounds 
which  were  in  the  very  cream  of  position  in 
the  West  End. 

Sibyl  at  such  times  seemed  borne  away 
to  Enchanted  Land.  On  this  evening  to 
which  we  have  alluded,  his  voice  softened 
as  he  spoke  of  his  blessed  mo{lu-v  sleeping 
in  Kensel  Green  Cemetery.  He  could  say 
no  more,  and  he  and  Sibyl  wept.  Then  in 
the  silence  he  plead,  "Dearest  Sibyl,  may  1 
show  you  all  these  sacred  scenes?  O,  go 
with  me.  Let  me  guide  you,  cherish  you, 
adore  you  forever."  She  laid  her  head 
fondly  upon  his  shoulder,  and  he  pressed  her 
to  his  bosom. 

Mortimer  passed  the  following  winter  at 


230 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


Indianapolis.  The  legislature  was  in  ses- 
sion, and  that  little  city  was  all  motion  and 
'mirth.  The  social  luminaries  were  at  their 
zenith.  Mortimer  danced  attendance  upon 
the  belles  of  the  season,  and  entered  with  a 
free  hand  into  the  fashionable  dissipation 
and  vice.  Dora  Preston,  "the  Kentucky 
Star,"  was  in  the  ascendancy,  and  grave  sen- 
ators and  judges  crowded  in  her  train.  Mor- 
timer and  his  hail-fellows  would  come  stumb- 
ling and  yawning  into  the  Capitol  Restau- 
rant at  nine  or  ten  in  the  morning,  and  lan- 
guidly sip  their  coffee  or  champagne,  and 
discuss  the  fine  points  of  the  social  brilliants 
of  the  hour. 

Meanwhile  the  crafty  Mortimer  was  saying 
to  himself,  "I  must  keep  the  lines  well  se- 
cured around  my  Riverton  sweetheart."  Let- 
ters, now  and  then  a  choice  roll  of  music, 
accompanied  by  neat  little  notes,  full  of  the 
tender  passion,  come  to  Sibyl. 

Now,  more  than  once  Gen,  Tupper  has 
asked  himself,  "Who  is  this  Edward  Morti- 
mer?" Nor  does  he  gain  any  very  satisfacto- 
ry answer.  Indeed,  there  seems  to  be  no 
authority  on  this  question,  aside  from  the 
man  himself;  so  far  prepossessing  enough. 
About  this  time,  in  'conversation  with  Judge 
Bernis,  of  Indianapolis,  upon  the  mention  of 
Mortimer's  name,  the  sage  judge  ominously 
shook  his  head.  "No  good;  English  prodi- 
gal; sin  a  far  country  and  on  the  road  to 


THE  RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


231 


swine.     Too   much   Paris   has   spoiled   him. 
My  opinion,  he's  mortgaged  to  the  devil." 

Gen.  Tupper  made  no  reply  to  this  legal 
opinion,  given  in  rather  unjuridieal  terms; 
but  he  did  considerable  thinking;  likewise 
did  Mrs.  Tupper.  The  solons  of  the  legis- 
lature return  home.  Mortimer  returns  to 
Kiverton,  and  is  more  devoted  than  ever  to 
Sibyl.  Parental  protests  vex  the  waters  but 
do  not  check  them.  Something  must  be 
done.  The  result  is,  after  conferring  with 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwin,  and,  while  Mortimer 
is  away  for  a  few  days  at  the  Capitol  finish- 
ing up  a  gambling  schedule  which  he  has  on 
hand,  Sibyl,  her  father's  pet,  and  the  sun- 
beam of  her  mother,  is  whisked  off  a  thous- 
and miles  to  a  boarding  school.  She  has  had 
many  a  hard  crying  spell;  says  "Mortimer  is 
perfectly  elegant,"  and  declares  papa  will 
think  so  some  day.  She's  very  sure  she  will 
never  love  anyone  else  as  she  does  him.  Nev- 
ertheless, for  poor  dear  Mama's  sake,  she 
has  dropped  all  correspondence  with  him. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

By  law,  Riverton  was  the  hub  of  the  coun- 
ty; by  location  it  was  the  hub  of  several 
counties.  With  unbounded  faith  in  the  fu- 
ture, or  as  visitors  from  Boston  said,  with 
accustomed  Western  effrontery,  it  was 
already  a  chartered  city.  Riverton  was  like 
the  boy  who  dons  his  father's  garments. 
They  are,  it  is  true,  much  in  advance  of  his 
proportions;  but  then  he  is  gaining  the  bet- 
ter of  that  fault  every  day. 

An  event  which  made  the  boy -city  swell 
with  pride  was  the  opening  of  the  canal  diag- 
onally across  the  state.  This  connected  Riv- 
erton with  Toledo  and  the  East,  and  with 
Vincennes  and  the  Southern  Gulf.  Travel- 
ing by  canal-packets  at  the  rate  of  seven 
miles  an  hour,  stowed  in  cramped  and  con- 
fined quarters;  flies,  fleas  and  mosquitoes 
within;  forests,  water-fowl,  fish,  frogs  and 
fens  without,  was  considered  luxurious. 

The  two  rivers,  Poconock  and  Rappilee,  and 
the  canal  helped  to  develop  the  country,  and 
developed,  also,  malaria;  that  name  by 
which  we  appear  to  understand  something 
which  we  do  not  understand;  unseen  and 
yet  universally  believed  in;  a  reality  which 
only  he  that  feels  it  knows.  Aboriginal 


THE   R1VERTOX   MINISTER. 


233 


fields,  large  water  courses,  sunless  shades, 
dark  glades  and  silent  swamps,  may  live 
handsomely  in  poetry  and  in  song.  Thous- 
ands and  thousands  and  tons  of  thousands 
of  little  imps,  dripping  with  vegetable  and 
animal  feculence,  poison  peddlers,  man-eat- 
ers— microbes  and  bacilli  we  call  them  now; 
— .come  like  a  thief  in  the  night,  and  encamp 
everywhere  in  "chills  and  fever;"  everywhere 
on  the  just  anid  the  unjust. 

Mr.  Goldwin  had  many  a  shake  with  this 
bane  of  the  new  settlement.  Quinine  and 
calomel  were  the  medical  panacea;  poison 
fought  poison,  and  a  good  constitution  at 
length  came  out  of  the  battle  'Victorious,  al- 
though a  costly  victory  it  was. 

But  an  enemy  far  worse  than  any  miasma 
or  malaria  was  ravaging  Riverton.  With  the 
increase  of  trade  and  traders,  intemperance 
was  increasing.  Both  gay  and  festive  drink- 
ing places  and  low  mud-sill  whisky  dives 
were  springing  up  as  if  by  magic.  The  canal 
brought  not  only  water  but  whisky;  not  per- 
haps the  much  "doctored"  whisky  of  today, 
yet  full  of  devils  and  death. 

Mr.  Goldwin  warned  and  entreated,  and 
his  soul  was  sore  with  grief.  His  was  no 
doubtful  utterance.  An  equivocal  position 
he  disdained.  He  dealt  in  no  glittering  gen-, 
eralities,  nor  yet  in  angering  personalities, 
but  he  called  a  spade  a  spade,  and  his  naked 
facts  blistered.  The  whisky  men  understood 
him,  hated  him,  while  compelled  to  respect 


234 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


him  for  his  courage  and  honesty.  In  his  con- 
tact with  the  liquor  curse,  Mr.  Goldwin  had 
some  always  reliable  coadjutors.  TL;- 
ability  and  legal  learning  of  Pierpout  not 
all  the  whisky  power  of  the  globe  could 
retain,  much  less  subsidize,  or  silence;  and 
Dr.  Bancroft,  by  far  the  most  prominent  and 
skilled  healer  in  Riverton,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  was  not  one  of  those  who  sell 
liquor  under  the  guise  of  medicine.  Nothing 
delighted  him  better  than  to  come  down  with 
his  battle-axe  on  rum  casks  and  drink  doc- 
trines. 

We  have  already  seen  that  several  years 
antecedent  to  this  date,  O'Flannigan,  the 
pioneer  rum  seller,  had  forbidden  his  daugh- 
ter to  attend  church,and  he  never  wearied  of 
inveighing  'bitterly  before  his  comrades  and 
his  drunken  sons  against  "Priest  Goldwin," 
who,  he  said,  led  the  people  of  Riverton 
around  by  the  nose.  Therein  O'Flannigan 
came  nearer  the  truth  than  was  customary 
with  him.  If  he  had  changed  one  word,  said 
"led  the  people  around  by  their  reason,"  he 
would  have  been  unusually  accurate.  Mr. 
Goldwin  had  gained  many  signatures  to  the 
total  abstinence  pledge,  and  snatched  some 
from  the  toils  of  the  liquor  venders,  and 
although  many  times  acting  through  others,, 
was  really  the  leader  in  organized  effort  to 
close  the  liquor  shops.  Yes,  close  then. 
For  he  began  at  this  early  date  in  the  tem- 
perance work  to  see  that  so  long  as  stv 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER.  235 

drink  was  freely  sold,  reform  the  drinkers  as 
fast  as  they  could,  it  was  only  pulling  men 
out  below  the  dam,  while  money  and  greed 
and  appetite  were  chucking  them  in  above 
the  dam. 

A  city  election  was  approaching,  and  the 
advocates  of  temperance,  while  seeking  to 
manufacture  and  focalize  healthy  public  sen- 
timent, called  a  mass  meeting,  a  grand  citi- 
zens' rally.  As  the  hour  came,  in  they  came; 
patricians  and  plebians,  clean  and  unclean, 
"mongrel  whelp  and  hound  and  cur  of  low 
degree."  A  number  of  ladies  in  attendance, 
helped  very  much  to  redeem  the  character  of 
the  audience.  They  were  seated  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  speaker's  stand,  while  the 
whisky  patrons  and  peddlers,  diffusing  the 
familiar  odor,  were  packed  into  the  rear 
seats.  It  appeared  rather  as  though  the 
goats  outnumbered  the  sheep. 

Col.  Grande  was  passing  in  and  out,  ex- 
changing a  word  with  everybody?  escorting 
the  ladies  to  eligible  seats,  and  finally  pull- 
ing out  his  ruddy  handkerchief  and  render- 
ing some  Jericho  salutes,  seated  himself  near 
the  platform  and  occupied  hinnelf  in  his  cus 
tomary  endeavor  to  twist  his  frowsy  locks 
across  his  bald  and  barren  pate.  The  "Pres- 
idential Bee"  was  buzzing  in  his  ears.  He 
aspired  to  preside  over  thi  >.  meeting,  and,  in 
this  instance,  hs  aspiration  was  gratified. 
He  was  called  to  the  chair. 

A  few  preliminaries,  appointment  of  see- 


236 


THE   RIVERTON   -MINISTER. 


retaries,  and  then  the  speeches  began.  Mr. 
Goldwin  -made,  by  way  of  introducing  the  sub- 
ject for  all  to  discuss,  a  plain  dispassionate 
statement  of  what  was,  and  what  might  be, 
and  what  ought  to  be,  closing  with  a  vivid 
picture  of  the  advantages  and  superior  possi- 
bilities, the  brilliant  future  which  belonged 
to  Riverton,  if  temperate  and  pure. 

Then  somebody  started  the  call  for  Haw- 
kins, and  he  arose.  He  praised  the  people; 
flung  the  stars  and  stripes  to  the  breeze; 
lugged  in  all  the  Latin  he  knew;  vox  populi 
vox  Dei;  said  he,  was  jealous  of  the  people's 
rights;  believed  in  temperance  and  moral 
suasion;  despised  a  drunkard;  did  not  believe 
in  any  legislation  or  restriction  concerning 
what  a  man  should  or  s'hould  not  eat  or 
drink;  temperance  was  a  good  thing,  and 
would  come  sometime,  but  Rome  was  not 
built  in  a  day,  and  vinegar  never  caught  flies. 
This  speech  seemed  to  harmonize  well  with 
the  back  seats. 

Then  Mr.  Pierpont  arose.  He  began  very 
calmly,  but  it  was  apparent  that  the  volcano 
was  only  slumbering.  He  spoke  with  the  se- 
riousness of  one  who  had  felt  the  relentless 
hoofs  of  the  sateless  monster,  Drink.  There 
was  indeed  a  chapter  in  his  boyhood  of  which 
he  never  spoke.  How  he  had  sat  with  his 
mother  and  sister  watching  and  waiting  into 
the  late  hours  for  father  to  return,  and  how 
they  all  trembled  when  they  heard  his  foot- 
steps; of  this  Pierpont  was  silent.  But  is  it 
strange  that  he  early  learned  to  hate  liquor. 


THE  KIVERTOX   MINISTER. 


237 


and  swore  eternal  war  against  it?  A  kind, 
well  informed  and  capable  father  lost  for 
days  in  debauch,  followed  always  by  shame 
and  confusion  and  the  solemn  promise  that 
this  should  be  the  last;  and  this  vow  only 
to  be  succeeded  by  temptation  and  persua- 
sion and  yielding-  and  fall,  until  at  last  he 
fell  into  a  drunkard's  grave, — this  Pierpont 
had  seen,  and  wrung  the  anguish  out  of  it  to 
the  last  drop. 

He  made  a  very  clear  lawyer-like  argu- 
ment, showing  that  the  remedy  for  every  pub- 
lic evil  was  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  and 
that  not  to  rise  in  their  might  against  this 
confessedly  mammoth  evil  was  craven  and 
cowardly  and  criminal.  Pierpont's  logic  no 
pleader  for  whisky  was  rash  enough  to  touch. 
His  words  plowed  deep.  Evidently  the  goats 
were  a  little  quieted  or  momentarily  awed. 

Then,  Ool.  Grande,  after  taking  a  huge 
pinch  of  snuff,  suggested  that  they  would  be 
happy  to  hear  from  their  distinguished 
friend,  Hon.  Edward  Mortimer. 

Mortimer  arose,  slowly  and  with  well- 
feigned  reluctance;  played  the  part  of  the 
very  "humble  individual;"  strewed  compli- 
ments "thick  as  leaves  of  Valambrosa" 
around  the  honorable  chairman  and  the  ora- 
tors of  the  evening,  and  over  Riverton,  not 
omitting  the  superior  attractions  of  its 
ladies.  He  did  not  see  how  any  rational 
person  could  be  otherwise  than  a  friend  of 
temperance.  Moderation  in  all  things  was 


238 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


the  law  of  the  wise.  He  despised  anyone  who 
had  not  the  manhood  to  practice  self-con- 
trol. His  experience  had  taught  him  that 
each  man  must  stand  or  fall  for  himself. 
Indeed,  the  whole  of  this  Englishman's 
homily  might  be  summed  up  in  the  text  of 
Cain,  "Am  I  my  brother's  keeper?"  He 
opined,  also,  that  what  was  poison  for  one 
was  often  bread  for  another;  that  this,  which 
he  was  proud  to  call  his  adopted  country, 
rejoiced  in  extending  the  largest  liberty 
to  the  individual;  that  we  must  not  allow  our 
noblest  moral  convictions  to  carry  us 
beyond  sweet  charity,  or  into  even  the  sem- 
blance of  encroachment  upon  personal  lib- 
erty. Then  he  said  something  must  be  par- 
doned to  his  early  education,  and  to  the 
social  customs  of  "Merrie  old  England." 
This  subject  of  temperance,  it  should  be  re- 
membered, was  very  large  and  very  import- 
ant, and  must  be  considered  in  all  its  bear- 
ings. He  'had  thought  upon  it  a  great  deol. 
He  believed  thoroughly  in  reforms,  and  in 
every  measure  which  was  for  the  betterment 
of  man.  But  we  must  not  put  new  cloth  into 
old  garments,  lest  the  rent  should  be  made 
worse,  and,  like  our  blessed  divine  Lord,  we 
must  have  long  patience,  remembering  that 
it'  is  written  "He  that  believeth  shall  not 
make  haste."  Here  it  was  interesting  to 
notice  the  derisive  grin  which  played  around 
the  corners  of  the  mouths  of  certain  hearears 
who  knew  Mortimer  thoroughly.  Mortimer 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


239 


expounding    Scripture!      The   devil   turned 
saint! 

Still  further,  in  the  speaker's  opinion,  the 
greatest  enemies  of  reform  were  hobby-rid- 
ers and  fanatics,  and  he  could  not  forget  that 
our  adorable  Saviour  turned  water  into  wine 
for  the  wedding  guests,  and  that  the  chief- 
est  of  apostles  said,  "Take  a  little  wine  for 
thy  stomach's  sake."  Thus  did  Mortimer  state 
small  fractions  of  fact  and  truth,  carefully 
eliding  that  which  would  make  theta  com- 
plete and  truthful;  artful  in  the  most  dan- 
gerous form  of  lying,  which  consists  in  tell- 
ing only  a  part,  as  though  it  were  the  whole. 
Thus  did  he,  while  professing  to  embrace 
temperance,  secretly  st&b  it.  Finally  he 
said  that,  like  his  unsophisticated  friend, 
Hawkins,  he  believed  in  the  people,  and  to 
their  wisdom  he  would  humbly  submit  the 
whole  question. 

This  speech  was  framed  and  uttered  in  the 
most  plausible  and  bewitching  Chesterfield- 
ian  manner,  and  with  all  the  adroitness  of 
Mark  Antony.  Somehow,  it  left  a  very 
agreeable  taste  in  the  mouths  of  those  on  the 
back  seats. 

It  is  speaking  very  mildly  to  say  that  Mr. 
Goldwin  was  very  much  disappointed  and  an- 
noyed with  Mr.  Mortimer,  for  to  him  such 
hypocrisy  was  sickening  and  rasping  in  the 
extreme.  He,  "Priest  Goldwin,"  could  see 
that  it  might  be  expedient  for  him  to  remain 
somewhat  under  cover,  and  press  others  to 


240 


THR   RIVEKTON   MINISTER. 


the  front,  but,  politics  or  not,  he  would  never 
allow  the  last  speech  to  be  the  last,  and  he 
was  vigorously  twisting  his  coat  button, 
sure  prelude  to  a  good  speech,  when  a  voice 
became  just  audible.  Everyone  looked  up, 
as  if  saying,  "A  strange  voice!  Who  can  it 
be?"  It  was  none  other  than  the  boy,  Jonas 
Drake.  Absent  for  a  time,  attending  school, 
a  brief  vacation  now  brought  him  home. 
Always  interested  in  temperance,  the  silent, 
undemonstrative  boy  had  strolled  in  with 
the  rest,  and  settled  into  a  seat,  and  appar- 
ently unobservant  and  self-enwrapped,  he 
had  really  heard  and  weighed  every  word 
spoken.  The  idea  of  his  making  a  speech 
was  as  remote  from  his  mind  as  from  that  of 
those  around  him.  But  as  he  listened,  the 
fire  burned  until  it  must  break  out. 

As  he  arose  and  caught  the  eyes  of  all 
fixed  upon  him,  some  lighted  up  with  deep 
personal  sympathy,  and  esteem,  and  some 
with  a  sort  of  amused  contempt,  for  an  in- 
stant a  cloud  of  constraint  passed  over  his 
countenance;  for  an  instant  only.  Almost 
with  his  first  word,  his  intense  convictions 
bore  him  into  perfect  equipoise,  and  soon  the 
cloud  was  livid  with  lightnings.  His  soul 
trod  the  heights  of  truth  and  moral  obliga- 
tion; felt  the  freedom  of  that  upper  air,  and, 
like  a  mountain  flood,  quit  of  all  impediment, 
bore  straight  on.  His  form  became  erect 
and  authoritative,  his  countenance  mobile  to 
every  shade,  now  of  pathos,  and  now  of 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


scorn,  and  now  of  drollery.  The  audience, 
captured  by  the  unexpected,  enchained,  en- 
tranced, leaned  forward  to  catch  every  word. 
Now  laughter,  and  now  tears,  played  around 
his  hot  logic,  like  sparks  showered  from  the 
hot  iron  under  the  hammer. 

Eloquence  is  unreportable,  and  we  are  not 
so  audacious  as  to  attempt  to  transfer  it  to 
paper.  While  Jonas  seemed  to  disdain  all 
personalities,  in  the  electric  light  of  truth 
and  charity  how  flimsy  the  sophistries,  how 
bald  the  selfishness  and  hypocrisies  of  Haw- 
kins and  "the  distinguished  representative 
of  John  Bull."  It  was  like  pouring  noonday 
upon  midnight. 

Mortimer  was  mortified  and  chagrined  and 
angered  beyond  all  description.  If  Mr.  Gold- 
win  or  Mr.  Pierpont  had  answered  him,  he 
would  have  felt  honored;  but  to  be  impaled 
so  unsparingly  on  the  lance  of  this  strippling 
knight,  this  novice,  this  raw  boy!  Humilia- 
tion could  no  farther  go;  and  "our  distin- 
guished friend,  the  Hon.  Edward  Mortimer," 
wished  that  evening  had  found  him  in  Indian- 
apolis, or  anywhere  except  in  a  Riverton 
temperance  meeting. 

Jonas  sat  down,  and  then  a  pause;  an 
instant  of  stillness,  when  the  assembly  drew 
a  long  breath  —  regained  itself,  and  ,  then 
explosion,  then  round  after  round  of 
applause;  ladies  waved  their  handkerchiefs, 
and  some  of  the  men  leaped  to  their  feet, 
shouted,  huzzahed  and  whirled  their  hats. 


242 


THE  RIVEIITON  MINISTER. 


Somehow,  there  was  a  feeling  that  the  last 
word  had  been  spoken,  and  the  meeting 
abruptly  adjourned. 

Then  the  crowd  separated  into  little  groups 
all  discussing  Jonas.  Jack  Barnett  said, 
"I  always  knew  there  were  more  brains  under 
Jonas'  hat  than  people  gave  him  credit  for." 
Schnapps,  the  jolly  beer  seller,  seemed  as 
much  pleased  as  any  of  them.  "Py  tunder 
und  blitzen,"  he  exclaimed,  "dot  boy  ist 
vun  pig  virivind."  Dr.  Bancroft,  who  had 
just  returned  from  a  long  professional  ride 
in  time  to  hear  Jonas,  declared  that  it  was 
"Simply  Patrick  Henry  risen  from  the  dead," 
and  George  Tupper  asked  triumphantly  of 
Col.  Grande,  "Where's  your  Henry  Olay 
now?" 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

The  next  Sabbath,  a  stranger,  who  gave 
his  name  as  Rev.  Jerod  Jordan,  of  Sparks- 
ville,  accompanied  Mr.  Goldwin  into  the  pul- 
pit. Recently  three  new  churches  had  com- 
menced the  struggle  for  existence  in  River- 
ton,  but  Mr.  Jordan  was  there  to  raise  also 
his  denominational  flag,  and  rally  around 
Mm  those  who  would  lisp  his  shiboleth. 
-  He  had  called  upon  Mr.  Goldwin  and 
promptly  accepted  his  hospitality,  and 
offered  to  relieve  Brother  Goldwin  by  preach- 
ing for  him.  The  latter  was  indeed  needing 
relief.  A  little  mite  of  mortality  had  made 
his  debut  into  the  domestic  circle  some  six 
weeks  previous — a  pocket  edition  of  Mr.Gold- 
win;  and  his  demands  were  numerous  and 
imperative  in  inverse  ratio  with  his  dimen- 
sions. Like  the  nightingale,  his  songs  were 
given  in  the  night,  and  the  music  had  not 
been  a  lullaby  to  the  parson,  or  to  his  beloved 
partner.  Hence,  a  Sabbath  of  rest  was  wel- 
come to  Mr.  Goldwin. 

Reverend  Jordan  was  evidently  desirous 
of  publishing  himself  favorably,  and  both  his 
prayers  and  sermons  were  designed  to  be 
very  eloquent.  In  his  prayer,  after  rolling 
the  large  words,  like  hugh  boulders,  from  the 


244 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


dizzy  heights  of  glory,  and,  as  was  natural r 
perspiring  in  copious  streams,  he  terminated 
his  oratorical  supplications  thus:  "And 
when  we  have  concluded  our  mundane  per- 
egrinations on  this  sublunary  sphere,  receive 
us  unanimously  into  the  sempiternal  felici- 
ties of  the  eternally  (beatified,  and  we  will 
shake  the  walls  of  the  celestial  Jericho  with 
immutably  reverberating  hallelujahs  forever 
and  ever  more — Amen."  Mr.  Goldwin 
looked  as  if  the  amen  brought  him  relief  ;and 
his  discerning  hearers  exchanged  significant 
glances,  while  a  waggish  fellow  seated  near 
the  door,  gave  vent  to  an  irreverent  "Phew!'r 

The  speaker  then  announced  as  his  theme, 
"Man's  Soular  System." 

He  occupied  the  ensuing  week  In  calling 
on  everybody  and  publishing  that  he  had 
come  to  Riverton  to  "get  up  a  revival,"  and 
would  open  up  on  the  next  Sabbath  in  the 
City  Hall."  For  three  weeks  he  discoursed 
every  night;  perhaps  to  the  edification  of 
some;  certainly  to  the  diversion  of  nianj. 
After  his  sermon,  he  was  accustomed  to  ex- 
hort, "Come  for'ard,  oh,  sinner,  and  get  a 
blessing;  yea  beloved,  come  for'ard  and  be 
clothed  in  the  garbage  of  the  saint'?." 

Bro.  Jordan  advocated  Christian  Union, 
and  taught  that  the  one  and  simple  way  of 
securing  it  was  for  all  to  join  his  church. 
Before  many  days  his  preaching  seemed  nar- 
rowed down  to  recommending  the  pecul'ari- 
ties  of  his  sect,  and  indulging  in  thrusts  at 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTRK. 


245 


other  denominations.  His  holy  tone  and 
celestial  soaring  quite  captivated  Mother 
Smile.  She  drank  in  the  words  of  this  new 
voice  with  a  countenance  which  was  seraph- 
ic. For  about  three  weeks  he  drew  the 
crowd.  Two  months  longer,  and  he  had 
almost  no  following,  and  he  suddenly  left 
town,  leaving  a  memento  with  Mrs.  Smile,  an 
unpaid  board  bill,  and  with  the  community, 
as  souvenirs,  a  few  burnt  over  relics  of  the 
so-called  revival.  After  a  few  weeks,  as  Sam 
Drake  said,  even  a  policeman  couldn't  hare 
found  the  Rev.  Jerod  Jordan's  converts. 

There  was  also,  in  those  days,  Rev.  Henry 
Littleton,  shepherd  at  large  over  the  church- 
es. Once  or  twice  a  year  he  visited  River- 
ton,  and  always  to  the  gratification  of  Riv- 
erton.  Benevolence  lighted  his  counten- 
ance and  resounded  from  his  clear  melodious 
voice.  He  was  an  excellent  singer,  an  ear- 
nest and  practical  preacher,  and  an  adroit 
guide  of  all  varieties  of  human  nature.  Ed- 
ucated at  the  same  theological  seminary  as 
was  Mr.  Goldwin,  the  two  had  much  in  com- 
mon, and,  to  them  to  visit  and  pray  and  plan 
together,  was  like  pitching  their  tent  by  the 
lone  fountain  in  the  desert.  Mr.  Littleton 
appreciated  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwin,  and  he 
aided  others  to  appreciate  them. 

Good  Brother  Littleton — all  the  children 
loved  him,  and  when  he  addressed  the  Sun- 
day School,  as  he  loved  to  do,  he  never 
talked  too  long;  he  never  addressed  them  as 


246 


THE  RIVERTO^   MINISTER. 


babies  nor  as  adults,  but  as  wide-awake^boys 
and  girls,  and  parents  and  children  were 
alike  interested.  Mr.  Goldwin  aimed  to 
make  his  Sunday  School  like  a  bird's  nest, 
fastened  to  that  which  is  solid  on  the  earth, 
but  always  open  toward  heaven. 

In  these  untrammeled  and  hospitable 
years,  the  home  of  the  minister  was  open  to 
peripatetic  or  equestrian  clergymen,  and 
wayside  wanderers  of  divers  mind  and  mould, 
and  seldom  was  long  without  guests.  Then, 
there  were  the  Spring  and  Fall  convenings 
of  the  ministers  and  delegates  of  the  scat- 
tered churches.  Hiverton  being  one  of  the 
larger  and  more  central  towns,  was  often  the 
place  of  these  meetings.  Entertainments  in 
those  days  included  ministers  and  delegates 
and  often  ministers'  wives,  and  also  horse  or 
horses.  MJuch  housewifely  ingenuity  was 
required  in  contriving  that  there  should 
always  be  bread  enough  and  to  spare,  and 
that  no  bed  should  have  loo  many  bedfel- 
lows. 

Ah,  jolly  times  those  were,  when  the  min- 
isters gathered  around  the  minister's  board. 
Wit  was  discharged  at  short  range  and  hit 
every  time.  Or,  seated  in  the  little  "front 
room,"  how  they  discussed,  threw  in  bits  of 
experience,  and  anecdotes  and  ha!  ha's! 
Tears,  too,  were 'close  by — sympathizing  tears 
of  sorrow  or  of  joy;  and  many  were  the  nug- 
gets of  personal  truth  gathered  here  from  the 
soil  which  lies  between  the  cradle  and  the 


THE   K1VKRTON    MINISTKK. 


247 


grave; — often  a  very  short  path,  but  often 
rich  in  better  than  gold.  Occasionally  there 
was  a  Mr.  Dull  and  or  a  Mr.  Dryasdust,  but, 
as  a  rule,  divinity  of  the  pioneer  or  mission- 
ary kind  abhorred  dullness,  and  -when  logic 
failed,  achieved  by  dint  of  wit.  Mirth  and 
merriment  bubbled  sweet  and  pure,  like  sup 
from  the  sugar  trees  in  the  early  spring. 

Mrs.  Goldwin,  a  veritable  Kohinoor,  shone 
with  greatest  brilliance  when  surrounded  by 
clerical  lights,  and  passed  around  with  her 
tea  and  coffee  many  a  choice  bit  of  im- 
promptu philosophy,  or  an  intellectual  punc- 
ture, or  a  felrcitious  b?>n  mnt.  The  blue  dev- 
ils ran  from  the  twinkle  of  her  eye. 

The  menu  of  her  table  was  ever  simple, 
plain  and  ample,  but  sometimes  it  offered 
some  exalted  achievement  in  cuisine  which 
evidently  was  of  foreign  origin.  Somehow 
a  stuffed  and  steaming  roast,  or  a  basket  of 
tea  cakes,  or  a  tray  of  superfine  pastries, 
some  special  refection — would  mysteriously 
find  its  way  into  her  pantry  just  when  the 
hour  came  to  use  it.  Mrs.  Goldwin  said  she 
did  not  believe  in  fairies  or  sprites,  but  she 
did  believe  she  had  the  exceptionalist  of  good 
friends  and  neighbors.  Whether  it  was  sec- 
ond sight  or  mind  reading,  she  did  not  know, 
but  one  thing  she  did  know,  that  the  people 
of  the  church  always  knew  exactly  when  to 
send  and  what  to  send  to  help  out  her  lar- 
der. 

The  State  Meeting  was  the  great  churchly 


248 


THE  RIVEKTON   MINISTER. 


feast  of  the  year.  It  convened  in  the 
autumn,  sometimes  in  Indian  summer 
radiance,  sometimes  in  clouds  and  fall  floods. 
From  the  Michigan  line  on  the  north,  and 
from  the  Ohio  River  on  the  south,  the  cavalry 
and  carryalls  came.  One  and  then  another, 
sometimes  half  a  dozen,  would  bring  up  by 
nightfall  at  the  ministerial  manse  and  man- 
ger, on  their  way  to  this  meeting.  Riverton 
had  the  pleasure  of  opening  its  new  church 
to  this  body.  For  a  few  days  the  denizens 
of  this  youthful  but  ambitious  city  saw 
preachers  to  right  of  them,  preachers  to  left 
of  them.  The  streets  were  cloudy  with  men 
in  black. 

At  these  meetings  the  Home  Missionary 
boxes  and  barrels  were  opened  and  their 
contents  distributed.  Out  came  socks  for 
giants,  and  clothing  for  sons  of  Anak.  Evi- 
dently, the  eastern  donors  had  large  ideas 
of  "growing  up  with  the  country."  Comfort- 
ables also  appeared  in  variety  of  colors  to 
suit  the  taste  of  the  gay  or  the  gloomy.  For 
the  most  part,  the  contents  of  these  boxes 
were  suitable  and  serviceable  and  very  wel- 
come, a  very  great  help  to  the  over-worked 
but  never  over-paid  recipients. 

Mrs.  Goldwin  very  much  enjoyed  attending 
these  ministerial  meetings,  when  her  wifely 
and  motherly  cares  permitted.  The  King- 
dom of  God  seemed  hardly  invisible,  certain- 
ly intensely  real  to  her,  and  the  debating  and 
devising  for  its  universal  establishment 


THE   KIVEKTON    MINISTER. 


249 


aroused  her  whole  nature.  She  was  also  a 
skillful  decipherer  of  the  cunning  palimp- 
sests of  the  human  heart,  and  as  an  unob- 
served spectator  at  these  clerical  sittings, 
she  found  excellent  opportunity  for  this 
occult  reading. 

There  was  also  in  those  elder  days  free- 
dom, unconventionality,  heartiness  and 
friendship,  which  are  less  obvious  as  starch 
and  prim  propriety,  and  congested  wealth 
increase.  Plutocrats  were  then  scarcely 
known,  and  multi-millionaires  quite  un- 
known. Gigantic  monopolies  had  not  then 
carbuncled  our  nation. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher,  then  the  youthful 
but  much  thronged  pastor  in  Indianapolis, 
accompanied  by  Mrs.  Beecher,  made  the  jour- 
ney to  Riverton  to  attend  the  State  meeting, 
and  he  kept  that  sedate  body  in  a  roar  as  he 
described  the  tribulations  and  perils,  by  sea 
and  land,  which  he  encountered  on  the  road, 
and  then  the  next  moment  came  one  of  his 
inimitable  touches,  which  brought  them  all 
to  tears. 

In  these  ecclesiastical,  as  in  the  political, 
convocations,  the  question  of  slavery  was 
irrepressible,  and  evolved  great  heat  and 
sometimes  dire  conflagration.  Some  never 
conformed  to  the  march  of  truth  and  free- 
dom, and  had  to  be  dragged  along  behind 
the  procession.  Some  reared  and  plunged 
like  wild  animals  at  the  bare  mention  of  the 
word  abolition,  and  the  Union  was  dissolved 


250 


THE   KJVEKTOX   MIXISTKU. 


times  incredible.  However,  the  majority  of 
the  brethren  kept  serenely  on  their  way,  an<] 
never  flinched  or  budded  when  the  menagerie 
broke  cage. 

About  this  time,  a  guest  whom  we  have 
met  arrived  at  Mr.  Goldwin's.  I;  will  be 
remembered  that  John  Gold  win  left  behind 
him  in  Vermont  his  mother  and  brothers. 
Arthur  and  Thomas.  The  mother,  about  a 
year  previous  to  the  date  of  this  chapter, 
had  suddenly  sickened  and  died.  She  had 
lived  to  see  her  sons  educated,  and  ripened  to 
noble  manhood  and  to  usefulness;  had  seen 
the  last  wishes  of  her  lamented  husband  ful- 
filled, and  then,  with  a  heart  abiding  in  heav- 
enly peace,  she  had  "languished  into  life." 

Thomas  Golchviu  had  accepted  a  profess- 
orship in  a  nascent  college  in  Illinois.  Ar- 
thur Goldwin  found  an  implacable  foe  in  the 
wintry  winds  of  New  England,  and  yield- 
ing to  the  peremptory  order  of  his  physician, 
broke  away  from  the  theological  seminary, 
and  fled  to  a  southern  climate.  After  teach- 
ing for  a  time  in  Georgia,  and  beholding  his 
hopes  of  recovery  stealthily  one  by  one  dis- 
appear, his  heart  turned  instinctively  and 
tenaciously  toward  the  home  of  his  brother 
John  in  Riverton. 

The  latter,  informed  though  he  had  been 
of  the  feebleness  of  Arthur,  was  nor,  pre- 
pared for  the  reality,  and  the  immediate 
sight  of  the  sunken  cheek  and  emaciated 
form,  so  ill  contrasting  with  the  bounding. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


251 


redundant  vitality  of  his  brother  when  last 
he  saw  him  in  Vermont,  smote  him  to  the 
heart.  For  an  instant  he  was  disarmed,  and 
Arthur,  though  he  could  but  see  his  broth- 
er's dismay,  apparently  unobserving,  extend- 
ed his  hand  and  gleamed  with  the  old  win- 
some smile. 

Arthur's  prayer  had  been  answered,  and 
he  was  permitted  to  lie  down  beneath  a  broth- 
er's roof.  A  travel  worn  and  exhausted 
invalid,  he  wept  in  thankfulness  upon  his 
pillow,  and  amid  visions  of  boyhood,  mother 
and  home,  and  of  one  dear  woman  who  for 
more  than  a  twelve  month  had  filled  his 
heart,  quaffed  with  fevered  haste  from  the 
rivulet  of  rest. 

Meanwhile  John  and  Margaret  passed  a 
wakeful  night,  and  no  darkness  could  cover 
from  their  eyes  that  death  smitten  face. 
More  than  once  the  anxious  John  stole  on 
tiptoe  to  the  sick  man's  chamber  to  assure 
himself  that  his  wants  were  supplied.  The 
first  sound  of  the  morning  was  that  hollow 
and  ominous  cough.  As  the  days  passed, 
sometimes  hope  borrowed  a  little  strength. 
Now  and  then  affection  almost  fancied  the 
disease  was  retreating.  It  was  only  in  am- 
buscade. 

As  the  morning  sun  grew  high  and  warm, 
Margaret  was  accustomed  to  place  a  com- 
fortable chair  by  the  open  west  door,  and 
there  Arthur  loved  to  sit.  The  world  was 
to  him  so  beautiful;  never  more  attractive.. 


252 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


Never  did  the  birds  sing  sweeter;  the  wood, 
the  distant  river  and  the  blue  sky  were  never 
dearer  companions. 

As  John  passed  in  and  out,  the  embodiment 
of  vitality  and  cheer,  or  joyously  wrapped  in 
study  or  in  thought  of  his  dear  people, 
Arthur  was  made  so  keenly  mindful  of  what 
he  had  chosen  and  reached  after  with  all  his 
desire;  and  now,  the  life  plan  almost  realiz- 
ing, the  prize  almost  in  his  hands,  lo,  his 
hands  have  suddenly  lost  their  cunning;  his 
knees  tremble,  and  his  feet  refuse  his  bid- 
ding. His  heart  said,  "Life  is  sweet.  That 
tender  rose  slip" — Margaret's  fingers  had 
planted  it — "is  pouring  its  gladness  into  its 
forming  bud.  That  little  bird,  its  tiny  frame 
is  vibrant  with  song.  Those  sporting  calves 
and  lambs  say  life  is  so  sweet.  To  youthful 
manhood,  to  me,  life  is  sweet.  Is  my  cup 
filled  only  to  be  dashed  from  my  hand?" 

Strange?  In  sooth  it  was.  New  and  yet 
old  mystery!  Old  as  man  and  the  secret 
things  of  God.  So  richly  endowed  he  was 
by  nature  and  by  culture  and  acquirement, 
and,  crown  of  all,  dowered  with  the  love  of  a 
rare  woman  whom  he  had  sought  and  won 
while  he  was  college  tutor, — the  very  woman 
of  all  the  world,  as  it  seemed,  w.ho  was 
divinely  designed  to  complete  his  prepara- 
tion and  furnishing  for  his  life  work.  So 
well  equipped  was  he  to  bear  Jehovah's  mes- 
sage, so  ripe  to  win,  inspire,  and  lure  into 
light  and  love.  Nevertheless,  Arthur  had 


THE   RIVBRTON   MINISTER. 


253 


great  satisfaction  in  saying  "The  Lord  think- 
eth  upon  me,"  and  his  thoughts  and  emotions 
underwent  a  spiritual  moulting,  and  came 
forth  in  unique  and  royal  plumage.  His 
heart  panted  to  help  his  brother  man.  Who 
knoweth  that  this,  his  desire,  is  ungratifled? 

Now,  day  by  day,  his  hour  drew  near.  Si- 
lently he  was  fighting  the  final  battle.  The 
great  "Decisive  Battles"  are  silent  and 
unseen.  The  foe,  step  by  step,  was  closing 
in.  But  he  was  not  alone.  A  voice  sweeter 
than  any  human  spoke  to  his  soul:  "I  am 
come  that  thou  mightest  have  life,  and  that 
thou  mightest  have  it  more  abundantly." 
That  word  sung  in  Arthur's  heart,  and  he 
felt  the  throb  of  victory.  The  bud  was  not 
suddenly  closing.  It  was  opening  for  the 
King's  own  eternal  garden. 

Arthur  had  said,  "John,  would  that  these 
eyes  might  look  upon  the  place  where  you 
preach."  Bo,  on  a  clear,  bright  morning  when 
the  sick  brother  was  feeling  his  best,  John 
helped  him  into  a  carriage,  and  with  little 
four-year-old  Max  between  them,  they  drove 
to  the  church.  Arthur  walked  slowly  in, 
seeing  and  marking  everything.  Then  he 
ascended  the  platform  and  sat  down,  play- 
fully saying,  "Who  dare  say  that  I  have  not 
occupied  your  pulpit?"  Then  pausing  a 
moment,  with  his  own  inimitable  tenderness 
and  affection,  he  exclaimed,  "John,  I  covet 
vour  privilege;  I  hunger  for  your  opportunity. 
Oh,  if  I  could  only  prea'ch  to  everybody  my 


254 


THE  BIVEHTON   MlNISTEIi. 


dear  Saviour."  t  John  appeared  to  busy 
himself  arranging  some  of  the  books,  and  for 
a  moment  sought  in  vain  to  conceal  his  long 
pent  up  grief.  Recovering  himself,  however, 
he  turned  his  earnest  ga&e  on  Arthur  and 
said,  "Arthur,  you  have  helped  me  to  preach; 
you  are  preaching." 

"Am  I?  Am  I?"  said  Arthur,  with  a  light 
in  his  face  from  his  Lord.  "Thank  you,  my 
brother,  a  thousand  times  thank  you  for  that 
thought."  Then  rising  and  adding,  "Thou, 
Lord,  knowest  best,"  he  leaned  on  his  broth- 
er, and  as  they  walked  away,  Arthur,  putting 
his  hand  on  the  head  of  little  Max,  said, 
"Max,  dear,  you  will  preach  in  Uncle  Arthur's 
place,  wont  you?" 

The  following  morning  Arthur  had  hob- 
bled to  his  accustomed  chair  by  the  door. 
Silently,  and  with  something  akin  to  affec- 
tion, he  fixed  his  eyes  upon  the  little  rose 
slip.  When  Margaret  placed  it  there,  how 
little  did  she  dream  of  the  kind  offices  which 
should  be  given  it.  It  had  for  Arthur,  feel- 
ings, thoughts  "too  deep  for  tears." 

Mrs.  Goldwin  was  noiselessly  moving  in 
and  out,  anticipating  every  want,  and  occa- 
sionally speaking  a  word  in  her  sweet  silver 
voice.  "Margaret,"  said  Arthur,  "I  feel  as 
though  that  rose  bush  was  sent  especially  for 
me."  "Yes,  Arthur,"  she  replied,  "it  is 
yours." 

He  was  plainly  growing  weaker,  yet,  with 
characteristic  and  pathetic  persistence  of 


TIIK    UIVBRTON    MIMSTKU. 


255 


life,  insisted  upon  rising'  every  morning 
and  maintaining  the  routine.  But  soon  came 
a  night  when  the  long  wrestle  with  disease 
was  evidently  almost  over.  By  his  side  sat 
John  and  Margaret,  silently  watching  for  the 
coming  of  the  Angel  of  Release.  The  suffer- 
er lay  with  closed  eyes  and  scarcely  seemed 
to  breathe.  Now  and  then  the  wind  shook 
the  lattice,  and  moaned  like  a  departed  spirit. 
Margaret  leaned  with  both  hands  on  John's 
shoulder,  and  they  communed  with  thoughts 
too  deep  for  words. 

Once  Arthur  opened  his  eyes  upon  them 
with  a  sweet  smile  which  said,  "I  realize  it 
all." 

"Love  never  faileth,"  said  John. 

At  this  word,  "love,"  rallying  with  almost 
preternatural  energy,  Arthur  slowly  and 
with  labored  breath  repeated: 

O,  could  I  speak  the  matchless  worth, 
O,  could  I  sound  the  glories  forth," 

when,  his  strength  failing,  Margaret  coming 
to  his  aid,  added:  "Which  in  my  Saviour 
shine." 

The  long  strange  night  was  at  last  begin- 
ning to  wane.  The  first  of  morning  was 
beginning  to  creep  under  the  curtain  of  the 
window.  Once  more  the  pallid  lips  just 
broke  the  silence.  John,  bending  over, 
caught  the  words,  "Life — more — abundant- 
ly," and  the  spirit  passed  into  the  Eternal 
Morning. 


256 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


A  few  hours  later,  as  the  earthly  form  was 
lying  in  its  last  repose,  a  serene  joy  lingered 
in  the  dead  face,  like  the  glory  which  tarries 
at  sunset,  and  between  the  fingers  was  that 
one  fresh  bloomed  rose.  Love,  Birth,  Death, 
and  that  home  was  triunely  consecrated. 

Great  beyond  expression  were  the  sorrow 
and  disappointment  of  Thomas,  when,  has- 
tening in  his  buggy  night  and  day,  over  prair- 
ies and  through  sloughs  and  storms  and  riv- 
ers, he  arrived  in  Riverton  only  to  learn  that 
his  brother  Arthur  had  been  in  his  grave  sev- 
en days.  Bitterly  he  lamented  that  he  could 
no  more  see  his  face  until  the  resurrection 
morn. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Mr.  Goldwin  had  erected  a  small  barn  and 
had  added  to  his  belongings  a  horse, 'a  cow, 
and  a  "Democrat,"  or  a  stout  open  buggy, 
well  adapted  to  encounter  the  rough,  stumpy 
country  roads.  On  Sabbath  afternoon  he 
was  accustomed  to  drive  out  to  neighboring 
school  houses  and  preach.  In  this  way  he 
multiplied  his  labors  and  usefulness,  and 
began  what  afterward  matured  into  several 
country  churches.  Margaret  delighted  when 
the  skies  and  the  earth  were  propitious,  to 
accompany  her  husband  to  his  out  appoint- 
ments. Sometimes  the  minister  found  it 
quite  enough  for  heart  and  flesh,  to  keep  his 
appointments  alone  and  on  horseback. 

The  county  of  which  Riverton  was  the  cen- 
ter had  increased  rapidly  in  population  and 
resources.  On  its  list  of  officers  appeared 
now  the  name  of  Christian  Stubbs,  who  had 
been  elected  sheriff.  Col.  Grande  aspired 
to  that  office.  When  was  he  not  aspiring  to 
some  office  in  the  gift  of  the  "dear  people?" 
But  amid  the  strife  of  hungry  candidates,  at 
the  right  moment,  some  one  sprung  the  name 
of  Christian  Stubbs  upon  the  convention,  and 
forthwith,  "Honest  Chris"  was  nominated 
by  acclamation. 

17 


258  THE  RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 

Another  event  of  some  importance  to 
Stubbs:  he  and  Deborah  Dale  were  married 
and  settled  in  a  little  cottage  across  the  way 
from  Mr.  Goldwin;  and  so, two  pairs  of  strong 
hands,  and  two  heads  full  of  common  sense, 
and  one  heart,  started  on  that  companion 
voyage  so  old  and  yet  always  new. 

Stubbs,  a  half  breed,  emphatically  of  the 
people,  a  child  of  the  soil,  as  the  electioneer- 
ing phrase  went,  and  a  product  of  Riverton, 
had  earned  a  well  deserved  popularity. 
Kind,  neighborly,  observant  and  open  to 
light,  reliable  as  the  sun,  having  his  own 
thoughts,  and  able  upon  occasion  to  keep 
them, — it  was  interesting,  not  to  say  anom- 
alous,— the  progress  he  had  made.  The  tav- 
ern and  stable  boy  that  greeted  Mr.  Goldwin 
upon  his  first  alighting  upon  Riverton,  wToukl 
scarcely  recognize  the  present  sheriff  of  Coon 
county.  For  all  this,  thanks  in  large  meas- 
ure to  Mr.  Goldwin,  sculptor  for  eternity.  It 
is  needless  to  say  that  a  warm  attachment,— 
more — an  indissoluble  Christian  bond,  united 
these  two  men. 

It  happened  about  this  time, — a  clear 
winter  night, — the  stars  all  coldly  gleaming 
on  "the  midnight  still," — that  Stubbs  was 
returning  from  a  long  and  belating  official 
trip  into  the  country.  A  light  snow  lay  dn  its 
virgin  whiteness,  and  his  horse  trotted  to  the 
music  of  sleigh  bells,  and  evidently,  as  he 
gained  the  environs  of  the  city,  with  livelier 
remembrance  of  his  manger.  The  supperlesB 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


259 


driver  was  in  full  sympathy  with  his  horse. 
The  lights  of  heaven  never  were  brighter, 
but  the  lights  of  earth  were  extinguished; 
and  even  to  the  prosaic  Stubbs,  there  was  a 
consciousness  of  the  mistery  of  night  and  a 
slumbering  city.  As  he  caught  sight  of  a 
lone  beam  from  his  own  home,  he  easily  fan- 
cied himself  sitting  under  its  cheer. 

As  the  sheriff  drove  to  his  (barn,  Deb,  who 
had  been  napping  in  her  chair  caught  the 
jingle  of  the  bells,  and  it  was  but  the  work 
of  a  moment  to  place  the  light  in  the  window 
where  it  would  send  a  shining  path  into  the 
stable,  and  to  throw  a  shawl  over  her  head, 
and  trip  out  and  pat  "Nobby's"  handsome 
neck. 

"What's  that?  Fire!  Fire!"  shouted  Chris, 
"I  do  declare,Mr.Groldwin's  sta'bleP'and  away 
he  ran,  his  mighty  voice  ringing  out  on  the 
midnight  those  dread  words,  fire!  fire! 

Mr.  Goldwin  came  flying  out,  but  the 
flames  seemed  'to  leap  at  once  to  the  roof,  and 
he  ard  Chris  scarce  had  rescued  the  horse 
rncl  conveyance,  before  the  hay  mow  was  one 
gr-?nt  blaze,  and  the  victorious  fire  fiend  shot 
columns  of  triumph  (Straight  skyward,  in 
grinning  mockery  of  man. 

Standing  as  the  barn  did  on  an  eminence, 
when  compared  with  the  large  part  of  the 
town,  1  his  expensive  bonfire  commanded  the 
view  for  a  long  distance;  and  soon  the  whole 
town  was  aroused  to  witness  it.  Fortunate- 
ly it  was  one  of  those  very  .still  atmospneres; 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


not  a  ripple  of  air  to  turn  aside  the  flames 
from  their  upward  course. 

Margaret  shuddered  as  she  realized  that 
with  an  unfavorable  wind,  nothing  could 
have  saved  their  dear  little  home,  and  she 
lifted  a  thankful  heart  to  Him  who  tempers 
the  wind. 

And  now  the  question  on  every  tongue 
was,  "How  came  the  fire?"  Queries  and  sur- 
mises arose  on  every  hand,  agreeing  at  last 
only  in  this,  that  it  could  not  be  accidental. 
But  then,  what  possible  inducement  could 
anyone  have  for  applying  the  torch  to  the  lit- 
tle barn  of  the  minister?  The  mystery 
remained  a  mystery,  and  the  fire  had  its  day 
of  town  talk. 

Dr.  Bancroft,  who  said  less  and  did  more, 
headed  a  subscription,  and  soon  had  a  purse 
made  up  for  rebuilding  Mr.  Goldwin's  stable. 
In  a  few  weeks  it  was  replaced,  and  the  ill- 
boding  event  had  disappeared  from  common 
thought. 

But  in  the  meantime,  Stubbs  had  not  for- 
gotten it.  He  recalled  an  incident,  which 
had  it  not  been  for  the  fire,  he  would  prob- 
ably never  have  dwelt  upon  again.  A  few 
moments  before  reaching  home,  and  so  a  few 
moments  before  the  fire,  Stubbs  had  heard 
footsteps  on  the  crispy  snow,  and  looking 
in  the  direction  of  the  sound  he  had  seen 
O'Flannigan,  the  whisky  seller,  hurrying 
away,  "across  lots,"  toward  his  home.  Chris 
remembered  having  asked  himself  at  that 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


261 


time,  "What  can  call  Patrick  out  at  this 
hour?"  He  had  indeed  fancied  that  the 
liquor  dealer  avoided  him,  and  would  have 
preferred  to  be  unobserved. 

Stubbs  immediately  had  a  private  confer- 
ence with  Pierpont,  and  this  incident  which 
gave  him  as  he  thought  a  clew  to  the  origin 
of  the  fire,  he  divulged  to  no  one  except  Pier- 
pont. Meanwhile  Chris  moved  about,  just 
as  usual,  among  all  classes  of  citizens,  with 
eyes  and  ears  open. 

At  length  he  heard  one  of  O'Flannigan's 
patrons  who  had  that  day  had  a  quarrel 
with  the  liquor  dealer,  drop  certain  ominous 
words,  hints  that  he  knew  a  thing  or  two 
about  that  barn  burning.  It  was  not  long 
until,  under  pledge  of  protection  and  reward, 
Jake  Peters,  so  he  was  called,  made  a  state- 
ment under  oath  in  the  presence  of  Pierpont 
and  Stubbs  and  Mr.  Goldwin,  to  the  effect 
that  he  had  frequently  heard  O'Flannigan 
utter  dark  threats  against  ^Priest  Gold- 
win,"  who,  he  declared,  with  'many  cursings, 
would  never  keep  his  mouth  shut,  nor  mind 
his  own  business;  that  he,  the  said  O'Flan- 
nigan,  never  could  speak  of  the  minister  but 
in  terms  of  the  vilest  abuse;  and  finally,  that 
on  the  nisrht  before  the  fire,  after  drinking 
heavily,  O'Flannigan,  with  a  wink  and  a  mys- 
terious air,  informed  his  comrades,  of  whom 
Jake  was  one,  that  before  many  nights  had 
passed,  the  priest's  premises  would  be  in 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


ashes,  and  the  priest  would  have  the  warm- 
est time  he  ever  had. 

Then  it  should  here  be  stated  that  Stubbs 
and  Mr.  Goldwin  had  discovered  on  the 
morning  subsequent  to  the  fire,  a  heap  of 
combustibles  suspiciously  placed  at  one  cor- 
ner of  Mr.  Goldwin's  dwelling  house,  and 
exactly  where  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwin  and 
the  sweet  children  were  sleeping.  The  shav- 
ings were  charred  a  little  —  evidently  had 
been  ignited,  but  for  some  mysterious  reason 
had  refused  to  serve  a  purpose  so  malicious. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  particularize  farther. 
Let  it  suffice  to  say  that  witnesses  and  p^i- 
dence  ample  bad  been  obtained,  and  overv 
day  the  secret  coil  was  tightening  about 
Patrick  O'Flannigan. 

However  Pierpont,  and  especially  Mr. 
Goldwin,  w*ho  had  the  srooid  of  the  whiskr 
dealers'  family  greatlv  at  heart,  urered  that 
it  would  be  wiser  not  to  -press  matters  to  a 
criminal  Trrose<cr>tion.  So  Stubbs  quietlv 
took  means  to  apprise  O'FlanTnp-an  that  it 
was  becoming  verv  da^r^erous  for  him  to 
remain  in  "Riverton.  a^d  between  -hvo  days 
the  cowardlv  villain  disarvoparfMl.  TTfs  nrorv 
erty  proved  to  be  verv  heavilv  encumbered 
with  debts,  and  not  lono-  after  was  closed  out 
at  sheriff's  sale.  "Bv  Stubbs'  adroit  manacrf- 
ment,  a  little  sum  was  saved  from  the  wr^ck 
to  the  wife  and  daujrhter:  both  of  whom 
before  the  vear  closed,  Mr,  Goldwin  had  the 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


263 


pleasure  of  welcoming  to  membership  in  the 
church. 

It  should  be  said  here  that  the  O'Flannigan 
stock  of  liquors  was,  agreeably  to  the  desire 
of  the  mother  and  daughter,  purchased  at  pri- 
vate sale,  and  for  a  nominal  price,  and  then 
emptied  into  the  canal, — alas  for  the  finny 
tribe — while  the  roomy  drinking  place, 
which  of  course  was  located  down  amid  "the 
madding  crowd,"  was  converted  into  a 
Methodist  church ;  as  Margaret  said,  "a  very 
sound  conversion."  O'Flannigan  himself 
was  afterward  fatally  shot  in  a  drunken 
broil  in  New  Orleans.  Thus  ingloriously  did 
his  "star  grow  dim  and  disappear." 


CHAPTEK  XXVI. 

The  second  home-letter  of  Sibyl,  the  board- 
ing school  girl,  was  written  to  Isabel.  We 
give  here  some  extracts  from  it: 

"Last  night  is  the  first  time  since  coming 
here  that  I  have  gone  to  sleep  on  a  dry  pil- 
low. Miss  Furness,  the  teacher  who  has 
special  scrutiny  over  us  juniors,  dignifies  my 
homesickness  with  the  name  nostalgia,  a 
common  disease,  not  alarming  she  says.  She 
is  cold  and  stony  hearted,  and  I  cordially  dis- 
like her  already." 

"Yesterday  Miss  Dean,  the  principal,  met 
me  in  the  hall,  and  when  she  put  her  mother- 
ly arms  around  me,  it  warmed  me  all  through. 
I  just  adore  her,  and  I  fairly  bubbled  over 
with  happiness  all  day.  And  then,  too,  she  is 
from  Vermont,  and  knows,  and  praises  the 
Ooldwins." 

"My  room-mate,  Sarah  somebody,  is  a  tall, 
lank,  consumptive  looking  individual,  and  she 
has  the  cruelest  black  eyes  that  dart 
through  and  through  me.  She  has  butter- 
nut colored  hair  lying  in  deep  waves  or 
curves,  and  ending  in  stiff  stubby  curls;  and 
if  it  were  not  for  her  eyes,  she  would  seem 
more  like  a  figure  cut  in  stone  than  like  any- 
thing which  breathes.  Lucy  says  if  I  had 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


265 


been  a  better  girl,  they  wouldn't  have 
put  me  with  such  a  sphinx!  Sarah  is  very 
religious  though,  and  I  s'pose  she  must  be 
good,  and  I  ought  to  be." 

"I  passed  well  in  my  examinations,  except- 
ing mathematics.  I  hate  mathematics  and 
always  shall.  In  Latin  I  was  away  up, 
almost  to  the  seniors,  thanks  to  Mr.  Gold- 
win.  My  Latin  teacher  praises  me  right 
before  the  class,  and  I  go  to  my  room  nearly 
every  day  swelling  with  pride." 

"For  my  first  composition,  I  wrote  a  little 
description  of  the  very  funny  time  I  had  in 
getting  here.  And,  just  for  greens,  I  put  it 
in  rhyme,  and  you  ought  to  see  how  it  took. 
Sarah  glowered  and  called  me  frivolous,  but 
Miss  Marshall  says  she's  proud  of  me,  and 
calls  me  'Sybil  the  poet.'  But  I  say  again, 
thanks  to  Mr.  Goldwin  for  compelling  me  to 
write  my  thoughts,  my  very  own,  even 
though  I  did  scowl  at  him.  Tell  John  and 
Waxie  to  stand  by  their  books  and  Mr.  Gold- 
win." 

"I  take  my  walks  with  Lucy  Darrow.  She 
is  so  jolly — just  bubbling  over  with  fun. 
And  now,  for  fear  you'll  think  Lucy  isn't  the 
proper  companion  for  me,  I  will  tell  you  of 
Miss  Marshall.  She  is  a  senior,  and  daugh- 
ter of  a  missionary  in  India,  and  Lucy  says 
she  is  to  be  married  to  a  young  man  as  soon 
as  she  graduates,  and  go  with  him  as  a  mis- 
sionary to  India." 

"The  other  afternoon,  it  being  recreation 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


day,  she  met  me  in  the  hall,  and  seeing  my 
eyes  were  red  and  swollen.,  she  took  my  hand 
so  tenderly  and  said,  "Come  down  to  my 
room.  I  am  all  alone  this  afternoon,  and 
should  be  very  much  delighted  with  your 
good  company." 

"I  forgot  all  about  my  promise  to  Lucy, 
and  stalked  right  along  to  Miss  Marshall's 
room,  and  never  left  it  till  the  supper  bell. 
In  the  pleasantest  way  imaginable,  she  drew 
from  me  exactly  what  I  like  to  talk  about, 
my  own  home  people,  and  I  told  her  every- 
thing except  about  Edward  Mortimer.  She 
told  me  all  about  her  life  in  India,  and  the 
wretched  people  there,  and  the  missionaries, 
a,nd  I  almost  felt  as  though  I  could  be  good 
enougih  to  be  a  missionary,  if  Miss  Marshall 
would  take  me  with  her,  and  let  me  stay  with 
her." 

"O,  I  must  tell  you  of  the  gloomiest  thing 
which  happened  when  I  had  been  here  about 
a  week.  One  morning  at  Chapel  prayers, 
Miss  Dean,  after  talking  us  all  into  tears, 
asked  us  all  to  rise.  Then,  that  they  might 
know  better  how  to  do  us  the  most  good,  she 
asked  those  who  were  Christians  to  stand  at 
the  side  of  the  room,  and  those  who  were  not 
to  be  seated.  Then  Miss  Furness  and  Miss 
Strong  took  down  our  names.  For  a  mo- 
ment I  felt  as  if  I  was  shot  dead,  and  almost 
went  with  the  goats.  But  no,  dear  M<ama, 
I  couldn't  quite  do  that.  I  wasn't  alone  in 
these  queer  feelings.  Dill  Harkness,  my 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


267 


dearest  classmate,  told  me  that  if  the  earth 
had  opened  to  swallow  her  up,  she  could  not 
have  felt  more  completely  lost  for  this  world 
and  the  next,  than  she  did  at  that  moment. 
Bless  her  dear  heart.  I  do  believe  she  is  all 
right  now." 

"I  hope  our  dear  Mama's  oough  is  better. 
If  it  isn't,  don't  tell  me,  for  I  sometimes  feel 
as  if  I  should  never  see  her  again.  The 
dreadful  study  hour  bell  is  ringing;  so  good 
bye  my  loved  ones." 

"Your  Own  Sibyl." 

Our  school  girl  naturally  fell  into  the  habit 
of  writing,  pen-talking  as  she  called  it,  a  few 
moments  at  a  time,  on  almost  every  day. 
Every  week  or  so  she  would  gather  up  these 
journalistic  pages  and  send  them  to  the 
"dear,  dear  home  people." 

A  school  girl's  letters  are  often  accused  of 
being  frivolous  and  vapid.  But  no  one  ever 
laid  that  charge  to  Sibyl.  Everybody  in  the 
home,  the  General,  Mama,  Isabel,  George  and 
John,  and  sometimes  Mrs.  Ooldwin,  as  she 
happened  in,  or  Mrs.  Drake,  warmed  at  on'ce 
to  anything  from  Sibyl.  Here  are  a  few 
paragraphs  from  a  journal  letter  of  later 
date: 

"Feb.  3rd.  Mama,  my  ears  burned  yester- 
day, for  I  know  yon  were  all  thinking  about 
me  on  my  twentieth  birthday.  I  cried  a  lit- 
tle over  it,  and  before  my  eyes  wer  fairly  dry, 
I  went  to  Miss  Marshall's  room, and  she  moth- 


Ogg  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

me,  and  I  spend  two  hours  every  Wednesday 
afternoon  with,  her;  and  she  entertains  me  so 
delightfully  with  the  things  she  knows  about 
India." 

"I  wish  George,  my  dear  absurd  brother, 
could  hear  her,  and  he  would  never  again 
say  those  stupid  things  about  the  "noble  men 
and  women"  made  so  through  their  heathen 
religions.  To  be  sure,there  are  noble  men  and 
women  amongst  the  heathen,  but  then,  bless 
me!  they  are  so  in  spite  of  the  false  teach- 
ings of  their  religion.  Even  modern  edu- 
cated Hindoos,  with  few  exceptions,  have  no 
real  knowledge  of  the  books  of  their  own 
faith.  Even  their  prayers  taken  from  the 
ancient  writings,  which  they  repeat  so  de- 
voutly, they  do  not  understand,  any  more 
than  our  Stubbs  understands  Greek.  Why, 
the  people's  gods  are  the  biggest  villains,  so 
foul  that  Miss  Marshall  said  she  couldn't 
speak  of  them  to  me  in  plain  English.  And, 
Oh,  the  poor  trodden  upon  women  and  wid- 
ows! The  father  celebrates  when  a  son  is 
born,  but  the  birth  of  a  daughter  sets  him  to 
wailing  and  cursing.  Better  be  Waxie's  dog, 
Mixer,  than  to  be  a  Hindoo  girl,  if  she  must 
be  left  where  the  Hindoo  religion  puts  her." 

"I  asked  Miss  Marshall  whether  she  didn't 
think  the  Hindoo  religion  could  be  marie 
over.  'Yes,'  she  replied,  'in  a  very  restrict- 
ed sense  this  could  (be  done,  by  retain- 
ing the  little  in  it  that  is  Christ-like,  drop- 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


269 


ping  out  all  the  rest,  and  in  its  place  substi- 
tuting pure  Christianity.'  -Still,  as  she  said, 
this  would  be  like  putting  new  cloth  into  an 
old  garment" 

"If  these  people  can  be  brought  to  receive 
the  simple  gospel  of  Christ,  the  good  seed 
will  be  in  the  soil,  and  the  perfected  tree  is 
sure  to  come  in  good  time..  Always  when  I 
leave  Miss  Marshall's  room  I  feel  as  though 
there  was  a  good  deal  to  be  done  in  my  own 
heart." 

"Feb  9th.  Last  Sunday  our  missionary  col- 
lection was  taken,  and  I  wanted  to  give  every 
cent  of  my  money,  and  I  did  give  five  dollars, 
and  I  can  just  as  well  do  without  that  new 
gown  which  you  said  I  must  have  before  g\>- 
ing  to  New  York  for  the  summer  vacation. 
Lucy  says  I  look  well  in  everything  I  put 
on,  and  the  Pierponts  are  not  :so  very  'up- 
pish,' are  they?  Do  thank  Mr.  Pierpont  for 
getting  me  this  invitation  to  visit  his  mother 
and  sister." 

"Speaking  of  clothes,  I  am  reminded  of 
Frank  Mansfield,  a  girl  from  the  city,  who 
came  here  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  with 
trunks  full  of  gowns,  all  in  latest  cut;  and  to 
see  her  parade  them  at  supper  and  on  recrea- 
tion days  and  Sundays,  you  would  think 
this  a  gay  watering  place,  instead  of  a  mod- 
est, sober  minded  school,  nested  amid  river 
and  hill  scenery.  For  the  first  few  weeks 
Frank  had  a  cluster  of  admiring,  not  to  say 
envious  satellites  about  her,  but  one  by 


270  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

one  they  faded  away,  as  they  found  that  she 
was  all  gowns  and  ribbons  and  jewels  and  no 
brains,  and  not  a  bit  of  that  application  to 
books  which  grows  brains. 

They  insist  here  on  neatness,  and  on  good 
sense  in  dress,  but  display  doesn't  count  for 
much.  An  unkempt,  shabby  girl  hears  from 
it.  The  girl  that  counts  here  is  the  one  wno 
studies,  and  who  is  trying  to  make  of  herself 
an  all  around  useful  woman,  ready  to  fill  a 
big  niche,  somewhere  and  sometime.  Now, 
my  dear  pattern  sister,  you  will  smile  to  see 
that  your  infant  sister,  Sibyl,  is  getting  rid 
of  some  of  her  nonsense.  Anyway,  if  I  don't 
make  a  hit  somewhere  or  some  time,  it  won't 
be  because  I  don't  try." 

"Feb.  17th.  I  have  kept  my  promise, 
Mama  dear,  and  have  never  written  a  line 
to  Mr.  Mortimer,  but  I  do  love  him,  and  feel 
so  sure  that  you  and  father  are  entirely  mis- 
taken about  his  character.  O,  I  can  never 
promise  to  forget  him." 

"March  1st.  Mother  dear,  I  do  hope  1  may 
never  have  the  "big  head,"  but  I  can  just  feel 
my  brain  growing  every  day.  What  a  great 
world  this  is — oceans  to  do  and  to  learn.  Do 
you  know,  I  so  often  think  of  Mr.  Goldwin 
and  his  sermons.  He  always  made  God  so 
big  and  so  good,  and  our  duty  so  large.  I 
thought  when  I  heard  him  I  saw  it  all,  but 
I  didn't  begin  to.  I  see  it  now,  and  ever  so 
many  times  I  am  reminded  of  things  he  said. 
Bless  him,  too,  for  suggesting  this  school  to 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


271 


Papa.     Our  principal,   Miss   Deane,   is  just 
wonderful." 

Sibyl  was  an  especial  delight  to  Dr.  Ban- 
croft. Her  buoyancy,  vivacity  and  crystal 
sincerity  exactly  suited  Mm,  and  as  he  dis- 
covered signs  that  her  fellowship  with  Mor- 
timer was  ended,  his  heart  warmed  with  de- 
light. The  longer  he  knew  Mortimer,  the 
more  certain  his  conviction  that  Mortimer 
was  a  villain  masquerading  as  a  gentle- 
man. 

Mrs.  Tupper,  whose  ill-turns  had  made  fre- 
quent demands  upon  the  professional  skill  of 
Dr.  Bancroft,  with  difficulty  could  determine 
which  she  esteemed  .most,  the  physician  or 
the  man.  As  family  medical  adviser,  Dr. 
Bancroft  had  been  granted  the  freedom 
and  sacred  confidence  of  General  Tupper's 
delightful  home,  a  trust  which  he  always  pre- 
served sacredly  inviolate. 

T<he  Doctor  had  sometimes  taken  posses- 
sion of  Mr.  Goldwin  of  a  Monday  morning, 
and  tossed  him  about  with  him  in  his  gig 
over  the  rough  and  often  roadless  country, 
until  sermons  and  Sundays  and  parish  prob- 
lems were  completely  jolted  out  of  his 
brain.  Sometimes,  while  Dr.  Bancroft 
stopped  to  dole  out  pills  and  powders,  Mr. 
Goldwin  scoured  an  adjacent  grove  or  hazel 
patch  for  nuts.  Sometimes  he  and  the  Doc- 
tor attempted  some  philosophical  or  theolog- 
ical nuts.  Sometimes  he  called  with  the 
Doctor  and  sought  to  administer  for  a  dis- 


272  TBfB  RT7ERTON  MINISTER. 

ease  deeper  and  more  invererate  than  any 
physical  malady. 

Once  or  twice  Dr.  Bancroft  had  picked  up 
Jonas,  the  college  boy,  and  pressed  him, 
nolens  volens,  into  a  ten  mile  trip.  Nothing 
suited  this  disciple  of  Esculapius  better  than 
to  pump  the  college  boy,  unless  it  was  to 
deal  out  to  this  same  youth  alopathic  doses 
of  wisdom  in  his  own  curt  and  oracular  style. 

But,  on  the  afternoon  now  to  be  spoken  of, 
Dr.  Bancroft  pursued  an,  if  not  more  origi- 
nal, certainly  more  romantic  course.  He 
asked  Miss  Isabel  Tupper  to  ride  with  him 
on  his  afternoon  round  of  visits  and  be  his 
hitching  post.  This  invitation  may  appear 
to  us  to  be  somewhat  abrupt,  but  not  so  to 
the  parties  most  intimately  concerned.  The 
preliminary  steps  which  led  to  this  advance 
by  the  Doctor  it  is  unnecessary  that  we 
should  trace.  It  is  enough  to  know  that 
they  had  been  taken.  Such  an  invitation  to 
ride  >coming  from  some  persons  would  not 
have  been  heeded  by  Isabel,  but  Dr.  Ban- 
croft she  believed  in. 

Dr.  Bancroft  knew  "Bucephalus" — 'Buce' 
is  the  name  the  steed  knew — that  he  would 
stand  in  his  tracks  by  the  hour  looking  and 
listening  for  his  master,  and  that  when  he 
said  "Go,"  Buce  would  go.  Not  the  slight- 
est need  of  anyone  to  serve  as  hitching  post. 
No  one  knew  this  so  well  as  did  the  Doctor 
and  the  lady.  How  many  innocnt  pretexts 
there  are  in  the  world. 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


273 


Hts  a  two-wheeled  affair — the  vehicle. 
But  why  describe  it  further  than  to  say  mat 
it  is  a  Doctor's  rig,  and  designed  -for  two 
when  desirable,  and  for  hard  service  always. 
It  has  a  boot, — the  Doctor's  special  contriv- 
ance, ampler  far  than  the  ordinary,  to  enfold 
him  from  tip  to  toe  when  he  has  to  face  the 
warring  elements. 

Now  a  long  hill  to  climb.  Buce  knows  it 
and  does  himself  proud.  See  him  stretch  his 
royal  neck  and  plant  his  foot  so  decidedly. 
His  master  allows  no  cruel  check  rein  on 
Buce. 

Yonder  in  the  hollow  is  a  small  cabin. 
Across  lots,  over  pastures  and  stubble  fields, 
through  gullies  and  over  roots  and  hum- 
mocks and  knolls  they  go  straight  for  that 
house.  Once  the  Doctor  has  to  let  down  the 
rails  of  a  fence,  but  he  sometimes  enjoys  mak- 
ing his  own  roads,  and  also  quietly  enjoys 
introducing  Isabel  to  some  of  his  roughest 
paths. 

Here  we  are,  dogs  and  all;  dogs  of  all 
shades  of  yellow  and  of  all  ages;  the  poor 
man's  usual  canine  comforts.  There's  a  sick 
woman  'here.  She's  yellower  than  the  dogs; 
been  pining  nearly  a  year.  Three  small  chil- 
dren are  playnig  on  the  rattling,  bare  board 
floor.  The  Doctor's  brusque  cheer  does  her 
good,  but  despair  dwells  under  her  ribs. 
Early  home  comforts  and  refinements  she 
left  a  thousand  miles  away,  and  she  and  her 

18 


274 


THE   RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 


Philip  lit  (low  11  here  in  the  woods  and  com- 
menced the  struggle  for  life. 

The  Doctor's  great  heart  inwardly  groans. 
He  knows  medicine  will  never  heal  her; 
knows,  too,  that  he'll  never  get  one  red  cent 
for  his  pains,  and  yet  that  does  not  enter  his 
thought. 

Philip,  dear  man,  comes  in  bringing  tied 
up  in  his  old  torn  handkerchief  three  little 
speckled  green  (bird's  eggs  taken  from  a  de- 
serted nest,  for  his  wife  Mollie.  Sometimes 
he  ploughs  up  a  family  of  young  rabbits,  and 
then  he  brings  her  one  of  the  soft,  round- 
eyed  bunnies.  Sometimes  he  brings  a  sweet 
scented  twig  or  flower.  She's  always  in  hie 
thoughts.  He  always  brings  a  smile  and  a 
happy  word;  sometimes  brings  a  bright  smile 
to  her  wan  cheek  in  return;  but  not  always; 
often  melancholy  and  suffering  iron  out  the 
smiles.  Philip  plows,  ponders,  puzzles, 
sometimes  prays;  turns  his  back  to  the  poor 
sufferer  and  weeps  on  his  pillow  in  the  dark- 
ness. There's  one  thing  in  that  home  which 
luxury  and  splendor  often  seek  in  vain, — one 
deep,  strong,  constant  bliss.  Philip  and 
Mollie  love  each  other.  Such  love,  even 
when  it  passes  to  be  only  a  memory  is  untold 
measures  better  than  never  to  have  loved. 
Somewhere,  sometime,  enriched  and  blos- 
somed out,  the  two  loves  will  be  one  flower. 

The  Doctor  returns  to  the  awaiting  Isabel, 
and  drives  into  the  woods,  and  by  a  lonely 
narrow  way,  crosses  over  to  another  farm 


THE   HIVERTON   MINISTER. 


275 


house.  Here  is  old  Mr.  B'arker  leaning  on 
Ms  crooked  staff.  He  is  in  one  of  his  dismal 
moods,  and  in  truth,  it  would  be  hard  to  say 
when  he  was  in  any  other  mood.  Complain- 
ing was  habitual  with  him,  if  not  constitu- 
tional. "Grunting  as  usual,"  the  neighbors 
said  of  him. 

•  He  regales  you  with  one  and  the  same  tale; 
that  nobody  cares  for  him;  he  has  outlived 
his  usefulness;  oug*ht  to  have  died  twenty 
years  ago;  everybody  has  'been  against  him 
all  his  life.  In  such  a  minor  key  Mr.  Barker 
was  always  singing  the  same  doleful  song. 
He  was  always  laying  heavy  blame  upon  his 
best  friends,  attributing  all  his  failures  to 
their  interference.  Even  his  very  excellent 
wife,  Prudence,  who  worked  and  worried  and 
schemed  and  economized  hersjelf  into  the 
grave  ten  years  ago,  and  who  really  sup- 
ported herself  and  her  four  children,  and  her 
husband  into  the  bargain;  never  received 
anything  from  him  in  return  but  grumbling 
and  fault-finding. 

The  truth  was,  when  left  to  follow  his  own 
plans,  he  was  a  timorous,  bungling,  blunder- 
ing, belated  performer,  sure  to  end  in  wreck- 
age. Visionary,  irresolute,  conceited  old  fel- 
low, and  born  grumbler!  His  boys,  fortun- 
ately embodied  the  mother's  thrift  and  en- 
ergy, and  genius  for  affairs,  and  as  they  could 
ill  brook  the  father's  chronic  whining  and 
inefficiency,  early  in  life  pushed  out 
into  the  world,  and  were  making  for  them- 


276 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


selves  a  .very  creditable  record.  Doctor  Ban- 
croft gives  this  patient  a  little  flattery  and  a 
dose  of  bread  pills  and  he's  in  high  spir- 
its. 

Then  the  Doctor  and  Isabel  drove  four 
miles  farther,  passing  but  two  houses  on  the 
road.  Here  was  a  sick  woman,  young  Mrs. 
Armitage.  She  had  been  tenderly  brought 
up  in  sight  of  Bunker  Hill.  Married  some- 
what against  the  wishes  of  her  friends,  and 
now  settled  away  out  here  in  the  woods;  an 
entire  stranger  and  the  nearest  nighbor  a 
Dutchman,  a  mile  farther  on!  Often  she  saw 
not  a  human  face  for  weeks,  except  that  of 
her  husband,  Peter  Armitage.  This  woman, 
this  tender  social  flower,  torn  ap  and  thrown 
out  into  this  desert,  was  dying  for  want  of 
society.  Her  unfeeling  relatives  in  the  East 
did  not  write  to  her  oftener  than  once  a  year. 
Her  rootlets  seemed  forced  to  feed  on  self. 
Who  can  wonder  that  mind  as  well  as  body 
became  unhealthy? 

Dr.  Bancroft's  cheerful  face  was  better  for 
her  than  all  the  medicine.  What  could  he 
do  for  such  a  case?  She  needed  a  change;  a 
complete  change;  something  to  set  the  wheels 
of  mind  and  body  going  in  a  new  track.  And 
above  all  she  needed  an  interchange  of  sym- 
pathies, a  social  reciprocity,  a  journey  clear 
out  of  self  into  the  lot  of  others,  and  of  the 
great  world. 

Her  husband,  Peter,  good  natured  soul, 
had  what  he  could  eat  and  drink  and  wear.. 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


277 


slept  well  and  could  work  all  day  and  not 
feel  tired  the  next  day.  He  was  happy,  as 
were  his  fat  horses.  Why  .shouldn't  he  be? 
His  horizon  was  bounded  by  his  farm.  He 
really  understood  the  nature  of  his  brindle 
cow  much  better  than  he  did  that  of  his 
wife.  "Oh,  ill-matched  pair,"  said  the  Doc- 
tor. 

During  these  professional  .pauses,  Isabel 
•sa.t  behind  Bucephalus  and  talked  to  him, 
got  out  and  rubbed  his  nose  and  petted  him, 
watched  the  birds  and  studied  the  bugs,  and 
read  her  book  and  the  clouds,  and  mused. 

Her  heart  ached  as  the  Doctor  gave  her 
briefly  the  sad  condition  of  several  of  his 
patients,  and  her  kind  soul  began  to  devise, 
as  only  a  woman  can,  to  send  little  delicacies 
and  bright  books  and  papers  to  MJollie  and 
to  Mrs.  Arrnitage.  Tears  moistened  Philip's 
eyes  as  he  met  Isabel  a  month  afterward  and 
tried  to  thank  her. 

A  child  was  the  Doctor's  next  care;  a  fine 
rollicking  boy,  who  had  been  very  sick.  But 
now  the  Doctor  was  merry  with  delight,  as  he 
declared  that  Davie  was  fast  coming  up. 
Nature  and  wise  treatment  were  winning  the 
day,  and  the  boy's  face  lighted  beautifully 
when  he  saw  the  good  Doctor. 

Meanwhile,  Isa'bel  was  quite  absorbed  in 
watching  a  beetle  tugging  away  at  a  round 
lump  of  dirt  twice  his  own  size. 

"What  a  parody  on  humanity,"  exclaimed 
3,1;e  Dovtor,  as  he  saw  the  laboring  insect. 


278 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


''In  ibc  rr.'inpai'ison  I'm  not  sure  but  the 

lixe^-4*  '^ie  kes^  °f  *V  sa>id  Isabel.  He 
seems  in  his  place  and  contented  and  happy; 
that  is  bug-happy." 

"W>hen  it  comes  to  mankind,'7  observed 
the  Doctor,  "it  does  seem  as  though  all  were 
in  the  ' winter  of  their  discontent,'  and  I 
might  add,  each  expecting  it  to  be  made  glo- 
rious summer  by  the  coming  of  some  sun  of 
York." 

"Well,  Doctor,  is  that  a  parody  on  Shakes- 
peare or  on  humanity?  I  rather  think  it 
is  both." 

"But,"  said  the  Doctor,  who  had  been  visit- 
ing disappointed  people,  and  was  still  under 
the  shadow,  "it  does  seem  as  though  the 
great  majority  of  men  never  get  beyond  dis- 
content and  long  expectancy — one  long  win- 
ter. Their  glorious  summer  tarries — so  far 
as  human  vision  can  see,  never  comes.  If 
their  sun  of  York  comes,  he  doesn't 
bring  summer." 

"Oh,  Doctor  Bancroft,  you  are  in  a  cavern. 
Gome!  Here's  a  sun  which  does  bring  sum- 
mer. Come  out  into  the  sunlight.  There  are 
more  people  reasonably  well  and  happy,  than 
there  are  sick  or  discontented.  Doesn't  one 
of  our  poet  singers  teach  that,  'take  the 
whole  year  round,  there's  no  more  night  than 
day?' " 

"Averaging  the  world,  Isa/bel,  what  you 
say  may  be  true;  averaging  my  patients,  I 
fear  it  is  not  true.  Who  has  the  truth? 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


279 


Who  sees  correctly?  Who  is  clear  of  all 
prejudice?  These  farmers,  for  instance, 
think  the  carpenter,  with  his  regular  work- 
ing- hours  better  off  than  they;  and  the  car- 
penter thinks  the  farmer  with  his  standing 
by  and  seeing  things  grow  is  bettor  off  than 
he;  and  half  Riverton,  I  dare  say,  'envies  me 
my  supposed  leisure  and  irresponsible  don't- 
care  life.  Little  they  dream  what  I  see  and 
what  I  carry." 

"That's  it,  Doctor,  everyone  looks  through 
his  own  little  gimlet  hole.  But,  what's  the 
remedy?  What's  to  cure  all  this  prejudice? 
Isn't  it  in  one  word,  love?  Love  opens  the 
eyes,  clears  the  vision,  sweeps  away  dark 
obstructing  walls.  Faith,  hope,  love,  but  the 
greatest  of  these  is  love." 

The  Doctor,  who  in  reality  did  not  alto- 
gether adopt  his  own  reasoning,  was  silent 
for  a  moment.  He  was  admiring  the  wisdom 
and  sunlight  of  Isabel's  thoughts.  Then  he 
said,  "You  are  right,  Isabel,  profoundly 
right;  and  I  always  in  my  speculation's  have 
to  come  to  this:  the  One  Divine  Physician, 
who  was  love  incarnate,  saw  without  preju- 
dice; saw  all  the  disappointment,  all  the  sor- 
row, yet  He  permitted  it.  He  did  not  extin- 
guish it.  He  simply  showed  ITS  love.  This 
way  lies  liberty,  this  way  light,  this  way 
life." 

"And  now  for  the  last  call  of  this  trip,'* 
said  the  Doctor,  "and  then  T  can  throw  off 
till 


280 


THE  RIVEKTON  MINISTER. 


"Till  the  next  summons,"  rejoined  Isabel. 

"That's  about  it,"  he  replied. .  "Isabel,  how 
would  you  like  to  be  a  physician?" 

"Never!     Never  that  for  me,  Doctor." 

They  are  out  on  the  old  "Michigan  road," 
smooth  wheeling;  "Come  Buce,"  and  away 
they  whirl.  Now  they  are  in  the  outskirts 
of  the  town,  and  at  Uncle  Billy  Newman's 
door. 

He's  a  battered  and  worn  out  piece  of  fur- 
niture, loose  and  creaking  at  every  joint. 
Life  has  gone  with  him  but  roughly.  Wife 
and  children  are  gone  save  one  elderly  daugh- 
ter, Cordelia,  who  dutifully  cares  for  her 
father's  comfort.  For  years  he  was  Tim  the 
blacksmith's  best  help,  right  hand  man,  main 
dependence.  But  now  for  a  year  he  has  been 
shut  in,  and  much  of  the  time  bed-ridden. 
Rheumatism  has  pinched  and  corded  him 
up. 

As  the  Doctor  softly  open's  the  door,  Uncle 
Billy  is  singing  to  himself: 

"A  charge  to  keep  I  have, 
A  God  to  glorify." 

"Good  morning,  Doctor.  I  was  just  look- 
ing for  you.  The  rheumatism  gave  me  a 
hard  twist  last  night,  but  let  up  a  little  to- 
ward morning." 

"Yes,  Uncle  Billy,  I  heard  you  humming 
the  good  old  hymn;  I  see  that  joy  cometh  ia 
the  momimr." 


THE  RIVEUTON   MINISTER. 


281 


"O,  yes,  Doctor,  the  morning's  coming; 
bless  the  Lord  for  that,  but  meanwhile,  he 
gives  me  songs  in  the  night,  too." 

Everybody  liked  Uncle  Billy  Newman. 
Hawkins  and  Tim,  sneer  as  they  always 
would,  and  pretend  to  see  some  selfish 
motive  in  everybody,  never  had  a  word  to  say 
against  Uncle  Billy. 

"How  far  that  little  candle  shines,"  said 
th»'  Doctor  almost  involuntarily,  as  he 
looked  admiringly  upon  his  patient. 

"Doctor,"  said  Uncle  Billy,  the  bright 
twinkle  in  his  eye,  "I  wias  a  thinking  last 
night  that  the  Lord  was  a  snuffin'  my  poor 
candle." 

"So  that  it  might  give  better  light," 
rejoined  the  Do>ctor.  "Like  David,  you  sing 
of  the  Lord  that  lighteth  your  candle." 

"Doctor,  Cordelia  's  just  been  a  reading  to 
me  the  precious  words  of  Jesus:  'Neither  pray 
I  for  these  alone,  but  for  them  also  which 
shall  believe  on  me  through  their  word.' 
O,  to  think  that  the  blessed  Lord  has  prayed 
for  poor  twisted  up  Billy  Newman." 

The  Doctor  said,  as  he  rose  to  go;  "Billy, 
you  always  have  the  true  medicine  close  by 
you." 

"Meat  and  drink,  Doctor;  meat  and  drink. 
Bread  of  which  if  a  man  eat,  he  shall  never 
hunger." 

Doctor  Bancroft  told  Isabel  he  always  felt 
in  this  house  that  things  were  reversed.  He 
was  the  patient,  and  Uncle  Billy  the  physi- 
cian, "and,"  said  he,  "he  always  helps  me." 


282 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


The  afternoon  has  gone  and  they  are  come 
to  the  brow  of  the  hill  north  of  TJiverton  and 
overlooking  town,  rivers  and  country  wide. 
There's  the  new  court  house  with  Its  image 
of  Justice  poising  the  scales  in  serene  maj- 
esty on  its  dome.  There  are  several  churches 
and  school  buildings,  bridges,  mills,  ware- 
houses, several  blocks  devoted  to  merchan- 
dise and  traffic,  homes  of  thrift,  comfort  and 
competence;  and  away  to  the  eastern  limit  of 
the  growing  city,  on  a  handsome  knoll,  con- 
spicuous arc  the  rising  walls  of  what  is  to 
be  the  county  seminary;  the  joy  and  care  of 
Mr.  Gold  win.  Intersecting  or  surrounding 
all  are  field  and  forest  and  stream,  and  all 
shimmering  in  the  light  of  the  setting  sun. 

Here  they  p  airs  CM!  ,  and  Doctor  Bancroft 
said,  "Such  scenes  are  blessed  sermons  to 
me.  When  I  reach  this  point  a.t  edge  of 
evening,  I  always  stop  and  look  into  the  sun- 
set." 

After  a  moment  of  silence,  the  Doctor 
turned  his  clear  blue  eyes  full  upon  Isabel, 
and  said,  "So,  you  are  sure  you  do  not  wish 
to  be  a  doctor?" 

"Very  sure,"  was  the  reply. 

"Well,  Isabel,  will  you  be  the  next  thing  to 
that,  a  doctor's  wife?" 

Isabel  paused  and  blushed  like  the  sunset, 
but  s'he  did  not  say  "no." 

Nearly  a  week  went  by,  and,  with  General 
Tupper's  family  carriage,  and  Isabel  at  his 
side,  Doctor  Bancroft  repeated  his  round  of 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


283 


calling  upon  his  chronic  invalids,  dispensing 
everywhere  the  fitting  remedy  with  abund- 
ance of  good  cheer. 

With  woman's  tact  and  invention,  Isabel 
overcame  the  protests  of  Mrs.  Armitage  and 
her  irresponsive  husband,  and  the  slender 
little  invalid  was  most  comfortably  robed, 
and  with  the  Doctor's  tender  and  gentle 
assistance  and  the  strong  rough  aid  of  the 
inwardly  protesting  husband,  she  was  lifted 
to  a  half  reclining  position  on  the  back  seat 
of  the  Tupper  carriage.  "We'll  bring  ner 
back  with  roses  on  her  cheeks,"  said  the  Doc- 
tor, as  they  waved  a  good  bye. 

A  week  at  Mrs.  Tupper's,  another  with 
Mrs.  Drake,  and  a  third  with  Mrs.  Goldwin, 
and  sure  enough  there  were  roses  on  the  once 
pale  face  of  Mrs.  Armitage,  and  the  bloodless 
lips  became  like  buds  of  promise,  a.nd  the 
limp  attenuated  hands  took  on  color  and  vital- 
ity, and .  it  seemed  as  though  a  new  soul 
looked  out  of  her  eyes;  as  indeed  there  did. 
For  these  three  weeks  of  rest,  social  cheer 
and  quiet  thinking,  brought  not  only  physi- 
cal but  spiritual  renewal,  and  Mrs.  Armitage 
ceased  to  quarrel  with  what  had  seemed  a 
frowning  Providence,  and  saw  behind  the 
cloud  the  smiling  face  of  her  loving  Father. 
This  very  world  but  yesterday  thought  so 
•cramped  and  drear,  was  now  to  her  like  a 
native  clime  and  not  a  foreign  land. 

When  Mrs.  Armitage  returned  to  her  hus- 
band it  was  with  a  package  of  congenial 


:284 


THE  IlIVERTON  MINISTER. 


books  in  one  hand,  and  a  root  from  Mr».  Gold- 
win's  white  moss  rose  bush  in  the  ather. 
But,  better  still,  she  brought  home  oa  her 
cheeks  the  pink  roses  of  girlhood. 

Nor,  indeed,  had  the  three  weeks  of  lonely 
life  been  lost  upon  the  husband.  Tihe  brief 
separation  had  moved  him  to  reflection, 
stirred  his  mind  and  softened  his  heart 
When  the  wife  returned  there  wae  an  un- 
wonted warmth  in  their  embrace.  They 
looked  into  each  other's  eyes  with  a  com- 
pleter  and  sweeter  understanding  of  each 
other  than  ever  before. 

We  do  not  mean  to  say  that  in  every  respect 
the  two  were  one.  This  could  not  be.  A 
fiddle  of  but  one  string  cannot  vibrate  with  all 
the  music  of  a  well  strung  harp.  Before  long 
husband  and  wife  were  regularly  seen  on  tne 
Sabbath  in  Kiverton  church.  Books,  flowers 
and  the  year  round  bloom  of  kind  thought- 
fulness  and  loving  deference,  each  bo  the 
tastes  and  especial  prefernces  of  the  other, 
and  more,  an  open  and  obeyed  Bible,  trans- 
formed this  'home  which  had  been  a  prison 
'into  the  "House  Beautiful." 

Miss  Isabel  was  often  seen  now  sharing 
with  Doctor  Bancroft  his  rides,  and  her  lov- 
ing and  timely  ministries  often  brought  the 
very  cup  of  healing  which  was  life.  Now 
ajbideth  Faith,  Hope  and  Love.  Bwt  the 
greatest  of  these  is  Love. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Five  years  later,  look  again  within  the 
home  of  Robert  and  Julia  Armitage.  You'll 
find  there  a  pair  of  four  year  old  twin  boys, 
Bruce  and  Brace.  It  is  early  morning  and 
the  mother  has  left  them  sleeping  in  their 
trundle  bed,  and  stolen  softly  out  to  start 
the  domestic  wheels  for  the  day.  Robert  is 
already  out  feeding  the  stock  and  milking 
Shiny  and  Brindle. 

Breakfast  over,  and  the  good  housewife 
soon  has  her  hands  in  the  dough;  and  Robert 
is  sent  to  inquire  into  a  disturbance  in  the 
trundle  bed.  Somehow  the  morning  nap  of 
the  twins  is  much  a'bbreviated,and  to  his  dis- 
may 'he  discovers  them  jumping  up  and  down* 
and  playing  horse  on  the  parental  bed.  One 
fat  boy  jumping  on  a  bed  is  too  many,  but 
two  are  worse  than  Bedlam.  It  is  a  strange 
physical  or  psychological  fact,  that  what 
one  of  the  twins  does,  the  other  must  always 
help  him  do.  The  father  picks  them  up,  one 
in  each  arm,  and  chucks  them  down  pretty 
decidedly  on  the  lounge,  with  strict  orders 
to  sit  still  till  Mama  comes. 

But  he  has  hardly  turned  his  back,  before 
the  irrepressibles  are  dancing  on  the  lounge,, 
trying  the  springs.. 


286 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


Soon  Bruce  is  ominously  still.  What  is 
he  doing?  Brace  makes  it  his  Immediate 
business  to  find  out.  Ah!  the  young  hopeful 
has  found  a  little  hole  in  the  plastering  and 
he's  very  busy  making  it  larger.  As  Bruce 
prefers  to  monopolize  this  employment, 
Brace  feels  injured,  deprived  of  his  rights, 
yells  out  "Mama,"  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  and 
runs  and  kicks  and  pounds  the  door  till  he 
brings  Mama.  Bruce  well  knows  that  he's 
a  law-breaker  and  runs  away  to  the  farthest 
corner  of  the  room. 

With  many  devices  of  motherly  ingenuity 
and  story  telling,  the  effervescing  pair  are 
finally  dressed,  both  with  clean  faces  and 
clean  pinafores,  and  covered  with  mother's 
kisses.  A^ter  a  big  bowl  each,  of  creamy 
country  bread  and  milk,  the  mother  and  boys 
indulge  in  one  of  the  richest  feasts  of  the 
day.  Although  Mrs.  Armitage's  house  work 
was  never  at  an  end,  yet  she  felt  that  some 
things  could  wait,  but  that  her  growing  boys 
could  not  wait.  So,  she  took  them  every 
morning,  before  she  sent  them  out  to  play, 
for  a  little  visit,  as  she  expressed  it.  She 
told  them  of  the  dear  Jesus,  who  loved  little 
children,  and  whose  kind  eye  followed  them 
all  day  as  they  played;  and  she  planted 
many  a  good  seed  in  those  tender  hearts. 
Meanwhile,  they  hug  and  kiss  "pretty  Mama," 
pull  down  her  hair  and  rub  their  fat  hands 
all  over  her  face, — hands  so  white  and  plump 
that  they  look  like  biscuits  with  pegs  stuck 


TI1K   KIV1KUTON    MINISTBU. 


287 


in  them.  Klie  gives  to  each  a  "tookie,"  and 
says,  "Going  to  be  good  all  day?"  "Yes, 
dood  all  day,"  they  both  echo,  and  out  the 
innocent  mischiefs  run. 

Brace  spies  a  little  switch  which  he  would 
like  to  use  on  old  Towser.  So,  he  drops  his 
nibbled  cookie  for  a  moment  to  pick  up  the 
little  w'hip.  Bruce,  whose  cookie  has  gone 
the  way  of  most  cookies,  snatches  up  the 
dropped  sweet  meat  and  makes  off  with  it. 
Brace  armed  with  justice  and  his  switch,  pur- 
sues the  little  peculator,  determined  to  re- 
claim his  stolen  property,  and  chastise  Bruce 
instead  of  Towser.  "Thrice  armed  is  he  who 
has  his  quarrel  just."  Bruce  ran  well  for  a 
time,  but  there's  many  a  slip.  Some  luckless 
stick  or  stone  trips  him,  and  he  falls,  and 
Brace  on  top  of  him.  They  indulged  in  a 
lively  set  to.  Brajce  comes  off  first  best  with 
the  first  round,  and  is  ready  to  fight  to  the 
finish,  but  Bruce  ignominously  takes  to  his 
heels,  and  leaves  his  antagonist  master  of  the 
ring. 

Brace,  quite  elated,  looks  about  him  for 
more  worlds  to  conquer,  and  thinking  it 
would  be  fine  fun  to  paddle  in  the  water 
trough,  climbs  by  a  block  of  wood  and  reach- 
es with  his  chubby  hands  the  edge  of  the 
trough,  when  over  it  tips,  and  Brace  enjoys — 
hardly  enjoys — receives  a  cold  shower  'bath, 
— water  and  more  water  in  his  face  and  down 
Ms  body.  First  a  chilling  pause,  then  an  out- 
cry, loud  and  louder.  "What  under  the  sun! 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


my  child,  my  child!  For  pity's  sake!  What 
have  you  done?"  exclaims  the  terrified 
mother,  as  she  snatches  up  the  dren>clied 
youngster,  and  rushes  him  into  the  house. 
She  soon  has  him  stripped  and  rubbed  down, 
and  put  to  bed  in  disgrace.  This  irrepressi- 
ble seems  at  this  moment  so  submissive  and 
penitent,  and  the  wages  of  transgression 
have  beeen  paid  so  amply  and  promptly,  that 
the  mother  does  not  find  it  in  her  heart  to 
give  the  scolding  she  has  ready. 

And  now  Mrs.  Armitage  straightened  up, 
drew  a  long  breath,  smoothed  down  her 
somewhat  disturbed  hair,  and  repaired  once 
more  to  the  kitchen.  "Pooty,  pooty,  Mama !" 
were  the  first  words  which  greeted  her  in 
that  direction,  and  there  was  Bruce  standing 
in  a  chair  by  the  kitchen  table,  with  both 
hands  in  the  tomato  basket,  making  pomaice, 
and  squeezing  and  squirting  the  juice  in  all 
directions.  His  clean  pinafore!  Alas!  Alas! 
"I  declare!  If  this  isn't  too  much  for  any- 
thing!" broke  out  the  tired  mother.  First 
she  wanted  to  scold,  and  then  she  wanted  to 
cry,  and  then  she  wanted  to  laugh. 

These  children,  it  was  to  be  observed, 
though  so  similar,  were  nevertheless  quite 
dissimilar,  as  added  years  evinced.  Brace 
was  always  tumbling  headlong  into  some- 
thing, and  always  bawling  and  crying. 
Bruce  was  more  cautions,  and  if  he  fell  into 
trouble  did  very  little  crying.  Brace 
wanted  you  to  pet  him.  Bruce  did  not  thank 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


289 


you  for  the  petting.  Brace  would  fall  down 
and  then  cry  for  somebody  to  pick  him  up. 
Bruce  would  cry  and  kick  if  anybody  picked 
him  up.  Brace  told  everything  which  ever 
went  through  his  mind.  Bruce  seldom  told 
others  his  'mind  or  his  plans. 

"Here  it  is  almost  noon.  Dear  me!  How 
shall  I  ever  get  on?"  But  the  blessed  wo- 
man did  get  on,  and  grew  in  saintliness  by 
many  a  lesson  in  patience  and  self  mastery, 
and  by  many  a  comforting  and  reassuring 
word  from  Robert. 

The  day  is  done.  Evening  veils  this 
world  and  unveils  the  worlds  above.  The 
steam  engine  twins  at  last  are  still.  Mama 
has  heard  them  repeat  in  concert,  "Now  I 
lay  me,"  for  if  she  has  them  repeat  it  singly, 
before  the  first  would  finish,  the  other  would 
be  asleep.  Side  by  side  now  in  their  little 
bed  fast  asleep! 

Mrs.Armitage  has  dropped  down  in  the 
rocking  chair  by  the  open  front  door — 
almost  the  first  easy  moment  she  has  had 
during  the  day.  Robert,  the  last  chores 
done,  sits  down  on  the  door  step  at  his 
Julia's  feet.  How  he  laughs  as  she  gives 
him  some  of  the  day's  exploits  of  the  twins. 
A  few  moments  for  loving  thoughts  and 
words,  and  two  tired  mortals  follow  their 
children  to  bed. 

"Julia,"  says  Robert,  as  he  looks  at  the 
sleeping  cherubs,  "We're  poor  enough,  the 
Lord  knows,  but  there  isn't  gold  enough  in 
all  the  round  world  to  buy  those  boys." 

id 


290 


THB  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


We  have  taken  a  peep  five  years  in  advance 
into  the  Armitage  home.  We  shall  have 
more  than  our  'hands  full  if  we  essay  to  take 
up  all  the  evidence  of  enlargement,  increase 
and  progress  in  these  Riverton  households. 

He  who  should  really  write  the  daily  his- 
tory of  a  home,  of  its  thoughts,  its  hopes,  its 
fears,  its  struggles,  its  sacrifices,  its  battles 
with  temptation,  its  prayers,  its  defeats,  its 
victories,  its  life-framing,  its  sculpturing  for 
eternity, — he  w<ho  could  really  tell  us  the 
real  story  of  a  single  home  for  a  year,  much 
more  for  a  lifetime,  would  never  want  for 
reader  or  audience.  His  story  would  far  out- 
rival the  most  wondrous  fiction. 

Men  talk  and  write  and  sing  a'bout  the 
"decisive  battles  of  the  world;"  always  some 
Marathon  or  Waterloo  or  Gettysburg.  They 
forget  that  the  greatest  Thermopylaes  and 
Rubicons  witnessed  on  earth  are  those  not 
witnessed  save  by  the  One  All  Seeing — such 
as  John  Wesley's  mother  alone  on  her  knees 
in  prayer,  or  David  Livingstone  kneeling  at 
midnight  in  his  tent  in  the  jungles  of  Africa, 
or  the  youth,  Abraham  Lincoln,  prostrate 
and  weeping  the  lone  night  away,  by  his 
mother's  grave,  or  the  battle  of  many  a 
mighty  soul,  the  secret  conflict  at  the  part- 
ing of  the  ways,  between  eternal  right  and 
wrong. 

We  see  and  mark  the  marshalling  and 
pomp  and  pageant,  and  hear  the  clash  and 
clangor,  chronicle  whatever  is  "full  of  sound 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


291 


and  fury,"  but  the  decisive  battles  of  time, 
of  eternity,  occur  behind  all  this  outward, 
far  behind  the  stage  where  the  god  Appear- 
ances is  the  throned  and  worshipped.  We 
men  count  that  cause  which  is  only  effect; 
place  the  monument  on  the  wrong  field,  and 
the  crown  on  the  wrong  head.  We  trans- 
scribe  history!  Outlines,  merest  sketches, 
ill  proportioned,  absurdly  arranged  and  with- 
out perspective;  as  like  the  real  as  the  Chi- 
nese doll  is  like  a  living  soul!  He  who 
should  really  give  us  the  record  of  the  expe- 
rience-life of  a  single  home  for  a  generation; 
say  rather  he  who  could  give  it;  he  would 
well  be  called  the  historian.  His  volume 
would  always  be  in  market. 

In  this,  our  sketching  of  a  life  story, 
naught  so  presumptuous  do  we  attempt. 
But  we  must  tarry  here  a  moment  within  the 
open  door  of  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Grold- 
win.  At  the  date  to  which  we  have  for  a 
moment  advanced,  this  home  is  enlivened  by 
two  auburn-haired  boys.  The  younger  of 
the  two,  Alton,  has  a  classical  face,  and  long 
curls,  and  eyes  where  roguery  ambuscades. 
Perpetual  motions  these  boys  are,  mind  and 
body;  incessantly  prying  into  the  philosophy 
of  things. 

Across  the  way,  in  Sheriff  Stubb's  happy 
home,  are  two  bouncing  children;  two  first 
class  specimens  of  healthy,  hearty  baby 
beauty,  "and  not  too  bright  and  good  for 
human  nature's  daily  food."  Do  you  recog- 


292 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


nize  Deb,  the  jolly  off -'hand  never  worrying 
Deb,  now  that  she  is  the  wary  care-taking 
planning  mother?  She  and  Chris,  are  wax- 
ing manly  and  womanly  every  day,  and  don't 
know  it 

Stubbs  is  in  almost  every  day  at  Mr.  Gold- 
win's,  and  the  boys  are  always  climbing  on 
his  boots  or  his  shoulders  for  a  ride.  The 
oldest  one,  Max,  rattles  off  his  primer  to 
Chris,  like  a  fanning  mill;  knows  tne  story 
under  each  picture,  repeats  it  word  for  word, 
and  just  as  well  with  the  pages  upside 
down. 

The  other  day  Alton  was,  wonderful  to 
relate,  all  at  once  invisible  and  very  stUl. 
Search  was  instituted  and  his  mother  who 
knew  he  must  be  in  mischief,  found  him  sit- 
ting on  the  floor  behind  the  door  with  the 
scissors  clipping  off  his  handsome  curls,  for 
the  poor  youngster  thought  "curly  liend"  was 
a  term  of  opprobrium.  This  /innocent  sacri- 
fice of  beauty  threw  the  household  into 
mourning. 

Dr.  Bancroft  happened  in  today,  and  set 
down  a  basket  of  large  ripe  tomatoes  for 
Mrs.  Goldwin.  Little  eurlr  bead  watched 
his  opportunity  and  fell  to  examining  the 
contents  of  the  basket,  pitching  the  tomatoes 
on  thtt  floor.  Presently  he  called  out  "peach- 
ers,  peachers!"  and  his  eyes  opened  like  sau- 
cers; and  sure  enough,  one  of  Dr.  Bancroft's 
jokes,  a  basket  of  splendid  peaches,  with  a 
few  tomatoes  to  conceal  them. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


293 


This  boy  Alton,  boy  No.  2,  little  curly  head, 
precocious  little  explorer,  could  shed  the 
curls,  ibut  there  was  a  deal  of  brain  hidden 
away  under  them,  and,  as  after  years  disclose 
him,  he  is  scholarly,  of  keen  and  correct  lit- 
erary discernment,  and  a  studious  and  de- 
voted champion  of  truth. 

While  we  are  considering  the  younger 
Goldwins,  let  us  take  a  leap  of  several  years, 
and  again  step  into  the  home  of  the  Riverton 
minister.  How  Max  and  Alton  have  grown 
— grown  physically,  mentally  and  morally. 
They  are  fairly  sprouting  with  arithmetic 
and  Latin  and  high  ideals.  And  how  patri- 
•?T»r>i2i  they  have  become:  for  there  are  now 
three  who  are  younger  than  they;  two  boys, 
hair  of  a  chestnut  brown,  Alex  and  Earnest 
by  name,  and,  most  precious  of  all  the  fam- 
ily jewels,  little  Sister  Miriam. 

These  Goldwin  children  are  decidedly 
unlike,  each  after  his  own  kind;  no  goody, 
goody  about  them;  nothing  angelic;  large  in- 
stallments of  Adam  and  Eve  in  them.  The 
father  often  playfully  said  to  the  mother, 
'^Margaret,  I  must  preach  all  that  I  ever 
expect  to  on  family  government,  while  the 
children  are  young,  yes,  very  young." 

"Not  quite  all  John,  dear,"  said  Margaret, 
"you  .are  likely  to  have  opportunity  to  do  a 
little  experience  preaching,  and  that's  the 
kind  of  preaching  which  takes  effect,  yon 
know." 

To  characterize  the  young   Goldwins,   we 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


must  somewhat  blend  child  and  adult  life. 
Alex,  alert  of  mind  and  body,  sti'tickr  while 
the  iron  was  hot,  and  always  kept  the  fires 
burning,  and  to  a  sacred  purpose.  Every 
feature  of  his  mobile  face  beamed  forth  the 
intelligence  and  graciousness  which  lighted 
mind  and  heart.  Buoyant  and  enkindling, 
he  was  his  mother  over  again.  Eager  he  was, 
ambitious,  magnetic,  tactful,  a  friend  to 
everybody  and  everybody's  friend. 

Ernest  was  deliberate,  weighty,  stable, 
encyclopaedic:  thoughtfully,  con^cio-^ti^nsly 
taking  his  position,  he  was  not  easily  dis- 
lodged. He  was  good  humored,  ready  at 
repartee,  open  as  the  day.  hungering  to  serve 
the  lowest  and  neediest,  and  the  verv  stuff 
to  make  a  cheerful  martyr  to  principle. 

'Miriam  was  the  special  pet,  and  for  her 
the  chivalrous  brothers  were  ever  ready  to 
take  up  arms.  She  seemed  to  come  right  up; 
took  her  place,  even  with  her  brothers,  and 
kept  it.  What  others  labored  for,  she  arrived 
at  by  swift  intuition;  studied  the  same 
branches  as  her  brothers,  and  soon  mounted 
to  be  equal  to  any  position;  just  the  one  she 
was  for  any  emergency;  all  her  life  the  staff 
which  never  breaks  whatever  may  lean  on  it. 
Versatile,  well  poised,  rich  in  gleanings  from 
the  broad  fields  of  letters,  of  wide  charity 
and  large  grasp,  she  came  gracefully  to  fill 
fehe  measure  of  the  all-around  woman. 

Here  the  young  Gold  wins  are,  turning  the 
dining  room  into  a  play  room.  Ernest  plays 


THE  RIVHKTON  MINISTER. 


295 


preacher,  mounts  a  chair,  and  in  stunning 
tones  reads  the  hymn;  while  his  undevout 
audience  mimic  or  criticize,  applaud  or  scold, 
as  the  mood  inclines.  Soon  all  are  engaged 
at  the  top  of  their  lungs,  each  determined  to 
be  heard;  and  then  the  long  suffering  Dom- 
inie springs  out  of  his  study  chair,  comes  to 
the  head  of  the  stairs  and  stamps,  and  shouts 
"Stop,  boys,  stop,  stop!"  Suddenly  the 
crescendo  becomes  diminuendo,  and  the 
youthful  actors  have  scampered  into  the  back 
yard,  where  there  is  more  room  for  noise-, 
and  the  "peaceful  war"  goes  on. 

One  night  Alex,  came  to  his  mother  with 
a  perplexed  countenance,  and  said,  "Mama, 
it  don't  seem  to  me  that  God  always  hears 
us  when  we  pray." 

"What  makes" my  boy  think  that?" 

"Why,  because,  I  just  beg  Him  for  lots  of 
things,  and  He  never  sends  them  to  me." 

"Well,  dear,"  said  the  wary  mother,  "come, 
lets  talk  that  over  a  little.  You  remember 
thait  yesterday  you  asked  me  to  let  yon  go 
sAvimming  with  Bob  Hanchett,  and  I  had  to 
say  'no.'  This  morning  you  asked  me  to  let 
you  children  have  a  basket  of  lunch,  and  go 
up  to  the  'fountains'  for  the  day,  and  I  said 
'yes.'  So,  God  sometimes  answers  'no,'  and 
sometimes  answers  'yes;'  just  as  He  sees  will 
be  the  better  for  you.  Isn't  that  right,  my 
boy?" 

"Yes,  Mama;  God,  I  s'pose,  knows  best,  but 
sometimes  I  forget  to  put  that  into  my 
prayer. 


296 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


One  evening  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwln  were 
having  a  little  twilight  talk  with  the  children 
about  the  Bible.  Ernest  asked,  "Papa,  how 
did  God  tell  the  men  how  to  write  in  the 
Bible?  Did  He  just  holler  down  out  of  the 
sky  and  tell  them?" 

"No,"  spoke  up  little  Miriam,  "that  wasn't 
the  way.  I'll  tell  you  how  He  did  it.  He 
just  put  it  into  their  thoughts." 

"There,"  quietly  remarked  Mr.  Goldwin. 
"Miriam,  in  half  a  dozen  words,  has  given  as 
good  a  definition  of  Biblical  inspiration  as 
all  the  theologians." 

It  was  amusing  to  hear  this  group  of  chil- 
dren talk  over  everything,  sometimes  with 
themselves,  sometimes  with  Papa  and  Mama; 
everything  from  Robinson  Crusoe  or  Arabian 
Nights  or  Aesop's  Fables  in  the  Latin  reader, 
or  Caesar's  Commentaries,  or  Zenophon's 
Retreat  of  the  Ten  Thousand,  or  Shakes- 
peare; to  the  last  sermon,  or  Biblical  poser 
or  quandary,  or  lecture,  or  debate,  or  politi- 
cal speech.  Each  youth  had  an  opinion  and 
was  not  slow  to  express  it,  and  woe  to  any 
bubble  of  conceit.  It  was  quickly  pricked. 
A  rare  education  it  was  to  be  a  member  of 
this  family. 

A.  few  years  more,  and  the  Goldwin  chil- 
dren were  singing,  "We  are  seven;"  and 
and  while  it  was  not  "And  two  are  gone  to 
sea,"  it  was,  and  two  are  gone  to  college,  that 
is  Max  and  Alton,  and  two  more,  a  boy  and 
girl,  have  come  to  keep  up  the  infant  class. 


THE  KIVERTON  MINISTER. 


297 


Of  these  two,  the  boy,  Roswald,  was,  tak- 
ing his  composite  photograph,  mercurial,  sen- 
sitive, now  oh  the  heights,  now  in  the  depths, 
generous,  affectionate,  a  knight  of  the  heroic 
olden  time,  c-hivalric,  eager  to  do  or  die  for 
honor's  sake,  aspiring,  classical,  sometimes 
poetic  and  electric  and  eloquent. 

The  girl,  youngest  of  the  seven,  was  called 
Lucille,  or,  briefer  and  oftener,  Lux.  "The 
last  still  loveliest,"  she  completes  and 
crowns  the  whole.  God  filled  her  soul  so  full 
of  His  blessed  sunshine,  that  it  wove  its 
skeins  of  gold  through  and  through  her  wav- 
ing hair,  and  danced  in  her  starry  eyes. 
Elastic,  suasive,  uplifting,  prevailing,  she 
was  enough  to  put  hoDe  under  the  ribs  of  cold 
despair.  Self-forgetful,  self-sacrificing,  she 
grew  to  move  through  this  hospital  world 
almost  with  the  magic  touch  of  a  Florence 
Nightingale.  "Loving  herself  last,"  she  was 
from  first  to  last,  loved  of  all  who  knew  her. 

It  grew  to  be  unwritten  law  in  this  Gold- 
win  home,  that  each  cMld  should  read  the 
Bible  through  before  reaching  the  age  of 
seven  years,  and  then  receive  on  his  seventh 
birthday  a  handsome  Bible.  Sometimes  sit- 
ting beside  the  mother  while  she  was  work- 
ing, sometimes  beside  an  older  brother,  the 
little  ones  daily  read  their  "chapters."  Many 
were  the  knotty  questions  awakened  by  the 
readings, — some  to  'be  answered,  and  some 
to  be  pasised  on  to  a  later  day. 

Industrious   and   nobly   emulous,    college 


298  THH  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

was  one  of  the  hill  tops  toward  which  these 
brothers,  and  sisters  too,  set  their  faces. 
Eagerly  they  gathered  and  saved  their  little 
earnings,  and  "college"  was  written  on  them 
all. 

Happy  home,  where  good  works  abounded, 
and  where  they  must  needs  be  mixed  with 
much  faith,  for  many  times  the  Wherewithal 
for  educating  the  children  was  not  in  sight, 
and  present  only  to  the  strongest  faith.  In 
securing  an  education,  some  of  the  children 
literally  worked  their  own  way.  All  of  them 
encountered  many  an  "iron  gate,"  but  when 
they  had  pushed  clean  up  to  it.  somehow  it 
opened  to  them. 

One  of  these  times  of  emergency,  when  the 
iron  gate  seemed  bolted  against  every 
human  ingenuity  or  resource,  Mr.  Goldwin 
receive?  a  letter  from  a  gentleman  in  Brook- 
lyn, N.  Y.,  containing  this  question,  "Are 
you  the  John  Goldwin  who  graduated  from 
Andover  Theological  Seminary  in  1829?  If 
you  are,  I  should  like  to  communicate  with 
you  on  a  matter  which  to  me  is  of  great  im- 
portance." 

This  letter  seemed  very  strange,  mysteri- 
ous; and  out  of  the  flood  of  recollections  it 
called  up,  Mr.  Goldwin  could  fasten  on  noth- 
ing which  solved  the  mystery.  But  he 
replied  to  the  letter  writer  promptly  that  he 
was  doubtless  the  John  Goldwin  whom  he 
wanted  to  find.  Back  came  a  reply  and  a 
draft  for  Mr.  Goldwin  -calling  for  $150,  an-.l 


THE  RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


299 


the  following  explanation,  "You  will  perhaps 
remember  losing  a  sum  of  money,  about  the 
time  you  graduated  from  Andover  Seminary. 
You  probably  do  not  know  how  you  lost  it. 
I  do  know.  You  laid  your  purse,  containing 
|19.00,  on  the  counter  in  the  book  store,  and 
you  never  saw  it  again.  I  am  the  guilty 
man.  I  stole  your  purse.  The  money  I 
enclose  is,  I  believe,  the  principal  and  the 
interest  for  these  many  years.  In  all  this 
time,  I  have  never  thought  of  my  wicked 
part  in  this  transaction  without  some  twinges 
of  conscience.  But  not  until  now  has  the 
enormity  of  my  guilt  driven  me  to  confes- 
sion and  reparation.  God  knows  that  I  am 
a  penitent  man,  and  I  think  he  has  forgiven 
me.  Will  you  forgive  me?" 

Now,  this  conscience  'money  came  to  Mr. 
Goldwin's  pocket,  at  the  very  time  when 
Lucille  ought  to  return  for  a  second  year  of 
study  at  the  Seminary.  So,  prayer  and  prov- 
idence by  a  strange  way  opened  this  gate  as 
they  did  also  many  others  in  the  history  of 
the  Gold  wins. 

After  all,  it  was  not  so  much  the  formal 
teaching  as  it  was  the  living  pervading  spirit, 
the  pure,  spiritual  air  of  this  home  of  the 
Riverton  minister,  which  made  it  so  blsesed. 
Everything  about  it  seemed  to  say,  "It  is  our 
greatest  privilege,  not  as  it  is  called  to  rise 
in  the  world,  but  to  better  the  world."  Hap- 
py home  where  the  temptations  and  tears 
are  chased  away  by  patience,  prayer,  heav- 


300 


THE  BIVERTON  MINISTER. 


enly  vision  and  divine  cheer,  and  where  love 
hangs  a  rainbow  on  every  cloud.  In  that 
home  beautifully,  beneflciently  grows  and 
opens  the  fragrant  calyx  of  character. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

At  the  Female  Seminary,  vacation  was 
about  to  give  the  hard  taxed  brain  cells  that 
change  which  is  rest,  when  Miss  Dean  rapped 
at  Sibyl's  door.  Hardly  had  the  latter  time 
to  wonder  what  she  had  done  to  require  a 
personal  visit  from  the  principal,  before  Miss 
Dean  exclaimed,  "I  have  news  for  you,  Sibyl, 
straight  from  home ;  a  note  from  your 
father,  introducing  the  bearer,  Mr.  Mor- 
timer, and  requesting  that  he  be  permitted 
to  escort  you  to  New  York." 

For  an  instant  Sibyl  threw  up  both  hands 
in  mute  amazement.  She  was  white  and 
then  she  was  crimson.  Then  she  broke  out, 
"Mr.  Mortimer!  A  letter  from  Papa!  What, 
Miss  Dean!  you  don't  mean  it.!" 

"I  do  mean  precisely  that,"  replied  Miss 
Dean,  her  eyes  twinkling  with  amusement, 
as  she  held  up  a  neatly  folded  letter. 

"Dear  blessed  old  Pa>pa!  Isn't  that  just 
perfectly  lovely!"  Then,  her  eyes  glowing 
with  a  thousand  lights,  "Where  is  Mr.  Morti- 
mer-?" 

"In  the  East  Parlor." 

Sibyl  did  not  ask  to  look  at  the  letter,  but 
away  two  feet  bounded  to  find  Mr.  Mortimer. 

He  was  pained  to  say  that  his  time  was 


3Q2  THB  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

extremely  limited.  Only  two  days  until 
Saturday,  and  then  he  must  take  passage  for 
London;  just  received  word;  pressing  busi- 
ness; must  go.  But  oh!  he  must  see  his  dar- 
ling Sibyl  once  more,  and  her  good  father  had 
so  kindly  granted  him  the  opportunity. 

Two  hours  later  and  the  overjoyed,  raptur- 
ous girl  and  her  ardent  suitor  were  on  their 
way  to  New  York.  Then,  by  degrees,  Mr. 
Mortimer  began  adroitly  to  unfold  to  her 
his  wish,  his  plan.  This  was  a  very  sudden 
summons.  He  must  go  by  the  first  .steam- 
ship; and  could  not  tell  when  he  could  return. 
Perhaps  not  for  six  months;  perhaps  not  for 
a  year.  A  year  without  seeing  the  angel  of 
his  life!  Cruel  thought.  He  could  not  en- 
dure it.  Before  leaving  Riverton  he  said  he 
had  had  a  long  talk  with  her  father  and 
mother,  and  everything  was  perfectly  adjust- 
ed now.  They  had  come  to  see  eye  to  eye. 
Both  your  father  and  mother,  he  said,  have 
so  unreservedly  and  lovingly  given  you  to 
me.  We  belong  to  each  other  now,  dear 
Sibyl.  God  meant  us  for  each  other. 
Sibyl's  'heart  was  so  full  she  could  not  utter 
a  word. 

Then  Mr.  Mortimer  suggested  the  question, 
wiry  should  not  Sibyl  go  with  Mm  to  Eng- 
land? He  was  sure  that  her  father,  generous 
soul,  if  he  was  here,  where  he  could  know  all, 
would  instantly  give  his  approval.  They 
would  write  to  him  and  explain  the  whole 
matter.  And  as  for  the  school,  the  Semi- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


303 


nary,  a  few  months  of  travel  in  the  Old 
World,  with  him  as  pilot,  would  be  worth 
to  her  a  thousand  seminary  educations. 

Poor  bewildered,  enchanted  Sibyl!  What 
could  she  say?  Under  his  magnetic  spell, 
she  seemed  to  acquiesce.  Such  a  lovely 
plan — how  could  she  reject  it?  But  she 
would  think  it  over  and  decide  when  they 
reach  New  York.  Perhaps  Mrs.  Pierpont 
would  know  exactly  how  to  advise  her. 

Arrived  in  the  crowded  Gotham,  and 
about  taking  carriage  to  the  hotel,  Sibyl  ob- 
served a  lady  standing  near  and  eyeing  them 
closely.  Everything  about  her  carried  the 
impression  of  intelligence,  refinement  and 
elegance.  Apparently,  as  she  was  about  to 
step  into  her  close  carriage,  her  attention  had 
been  arrested  and  fastened  upon  Mortimer 
and  Sibyl.  An  exclamation,  evidently,  was 
upon  her  lips,  and  scarcely  could  be  sup- 
pressed. Such  a  look  as  she  riveted  upon 
them!  Bo  full  of  surprise,  sorrow  and  indig- 
nation! Sibyl  could  but  mark  it. 

However,  she  would  the  next  moment  have 
forgotten  it,  had  sihe  not  observed  that  Mor- 
timer no  sooner  saw  the  lady,  than  dis- 
turbed, confused,  almost  black  in  the  face, 
he  siezed  Sibyl's  arm  and  hurried  her  away, 
and  handed,  almost  pushed  her,  into  the  near- 
est cab,  thrust  himself  in  and  stout  the  door 
with  a  heavy  bang,  as  though  he  was  shirt 
ting  out  Apollyon  himself.  This  done,  Mor- 
timer, greatly  relieved,  wiped  his  forehead 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


and  muttered  something  about  being  always 
glad  to  escape  from  the  insolent  hotel  run- 
ners and  hackmen. 

That  evening  Mortimer  devoted  himself 
to  Sibyl;  and  lavished  on  her  all  his  subtle 
art.  Never  did  he  seem  more  fascinating. 
He  was  in  the  high  flush  of  success,  and  sen- 
timent and  fancy  obeyed  his  slightest  bid- 
ding. Sibyl  seemed  to  be  in  a  delicious 
dream.  From  him  an  influence  emanated 
which  exhilerated,  and  yet  held  her  like  a 
pleasant  intoxication  ;like  an  atmosphere  roll- 
ing in  gentle  waves  from  some  elysian  island, 
and  steeped  in  aroma  of  elect  spices  and  aro- 
matics  of  eternal  s>unimer-land.  The  hours 
stole  softly  by  in  velvet  sandals. 

"Tomorrow,  my  precious  darling,  we  will 
step  across  the  avenue  into  the  Rev.  Dr. 
Winchester's  church;  he  is  an  old  acquaint- 
ance of  mine;  and  he  will  formally  and  sa- 
credly seal  the  union  in  which  our  hearts 
now  and  forever  live.  This  vision  of  soul, 
this  discovered  harmony,  this  blessed  mys- 
tery of  love!  Infinite  Benevolence  fills  the 
cup  and  presents  it  to  our  lips.  This  sacra- 
ment of  our  hearts — refuse  it?  Madness! 
Revolt  against  Heaven!  Tomorrow  night, 
my  love,  we'll  bound  o'er  the  billows  for 
'Merrie  old  England.'  So  saying,  he  bent 
over  Sibyl  and  kissed  her,  and  bade  her  good 
night. 

Did  the  vision  of  that  sweet  trustful  face 
follow  him  with  uncomfortable  suggestions? 


THE   RIVERTOX   MINISTER. 


30.1 


Did  it  arouse  an  accusing  voice  ? 
Self  absorbed,  he  paced  up  and  down  the  cor- 
ridor. As  he  paused  under  the  lights  his 
face  betrayed  the  secret  debate;  soon  dis- 
missed, however. 

He  said  within  himself  that  unquestiona- 
bly he  was  really  doing  the  best  thing  for 
Sibyl.  Indeed,  he  was  giving  her  rare  oppor- 
tunity. Riverton!  That  dull  frontier,  back- 
woods town!  Or  the  prim  propriety,  the 
bondage  of  a  boarding  school!  He  chuckled 
as  he  told  himself  how  he  was  about  to  eman- 
cipate this  rare  bird.  He  was  opening  the 
cage  and  giving  her  the  freedom  of  the  world, 
and  he  fairly  patted  and  caressed  himself 
in  admiration  of  his  perfect  scheme.  He 
had  discovered  the  diamond.  He  could  give 
it  its  fit  setting.  He  would  make  the  world 
bow  down  before  it. 

Did  he  dream  that  an  eye  was  at  that  mo- 
ment glowering  upon  him  out  of  the  shad- 
ows of  the  farther  end  of  the  corridor? 
Truth  to  say,  he  did  once  fancy  a  form  dread 
and  strangely  intrusive,  flitting  yonder  in 
the  shadow.  "I  did  see  her,"  he  exclaimed 
almost  aloud,  and  stared  with  bated  breath. 

"Ha!  ha!  These  spectres  of  the  mind!"  he 
said;  and  shook  himself  and  flung  out  his* 
arms,  as  though  tossing  aside  an  unwelcome 
dream.  As  a  prop  to  his  self-complacency 
over  his  "philanthropic  scheme,"  and  as  a 
'means  of  Beelzebub  casting  out  Beelzebub, 
he  walked  back  into  the  wine  and  billiard 
rooms. 


306 


THE   UIVEIiTOX    MIMSTKU. 


Sibyl  was  still  seated  where  Mortimer  left 

dons  eloud-enswathement  should  break,  and 
lest  the  angel  almoners  of  this  .ethereal  bliss 
should  be  affrighted.  She  s'hrank  from  re- 
turn to  common  "garish  day." 

But  at  length,  as  she  came  down  to  where 
she  felt  her  feet  still  touch  the  dull,  cold 
earth,  a  fever  of  thoughts  and  ^notions  op- 
pressed her.  She  arose,  straightened  herself 
to  her  full  height,  pressed  both  hands  to  her 
forehead,  as  if  recalling  herself  to  the  unvar- 
nished real,  and  approached  the  window, 
opened  it,  and  stepped  upon  the  balcony. 
The  air  blowing  up  the  harbor  and  ladeued 
with  the  strength  of  the  sea,  fanned  and 
relieved  her  hot  temples.  She  gazed  upon 
the  ligihts  skirting  the  long,  long  street,  till 
in  the  distance  they  seemed  at  last  to  mingle 
and  blend  with  the  lamps  of  the  sky.  She 
keenly  reflected  that  she  was  alone  in  that 
great  Babel  which  resteth  neither  night  nor 
day;  one  lone  drop  among  the  countless. 
She  seemed  feeling  about  like  one  arousing 
from  a  dream,  and  grasping  after  the  link 
between  the  strange  present  and  the  past. 
She  wandered  back — it  seemed  a  long  dis- 
tance back — to  the  little  room  in  the  semi- 
nary. She  almost  listened  for  the  retiring 
bell.  But  swift  thought  coi\ld  not  tarry 
there.  Those  mute  passionless  stars!  She 
had  grown  to  know  them  and  love 
their  fidelity  as  they  watched  above  her  fath- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


307 


<er's  and  mother's  door.'  O,  if  she  could  only 
fly  this  moment  to  mother's  door,  mother's 
arm's.  "Maima,  dear,  dear,  Mamia!  Let'  me 
bury  my  face  in  your  lap  once  more  and  tell 
you  all !"  and  her  eyes  were  blind  with  tears. 

Sibyl  had  been  walking  quite  uncon- 
sciously till  she  had  reached  almost  the  end 
of  the  long  balcony,  when  sihe  suddenly 
paused  arrested  by  the  sound  of  loud  and 
boisterous  vociferations.  Evidently  they 
proceeded  from  the  gaily  lighted  billiard 
rooms  beneath.  Above  the  clink  of  glasses 
and  the  click  of  balls,  arose,  along  with  fumes 
of  liquor  and  cigars,  the  hilarious  ejacula- 
tions and  unseemly  expletives  of  a  voice 
which  instantly  startled  her,  and  fastened 
her  attention.  She  leaned  on  the  railing 
and  listened.  Yes,  she  was  sure  it  was  the 
voice  of  Mortimer.  Oould  it  be?  The  same 
voice  which  'but  an  hour  ago  held  her  by  its 
bewitching  spell,  now  grated  harshest  dis- 
cord to  her  feelings.  No  nature  could  be 
more  foreign  than  hers  to  suggestions  coarse 
and  grovelling. 

Slowly  she  turned  back  to  her  room,  closed 
and  fastened  her  window,  drew  the  curtains 
and  tried  to  think;  dropped  upon  her  couch 
and  buried  her  face  in  her  hands.  Doubts 
were  stealing  into  her  paradise.  Suspicion 
was  fastening  his  venomed  fang  in  her 
breaking  heart.  The  question,  "Am  I  de- 
cieved?"  forced  itself  upon  her,  and  cruelly 
pierced  her.  A  dreadful  sense  of  solitariness 


308 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


and  perplexity  crushed  her;  her  frame  shook 
like  a  leaf  in  the  winter  blast,  and  the  tem- 
pest of  conflicting  emotions  broke  into  a  piti- 
less sobbing  rain.  She  was  where  the  ways 
part,  and  never  was  she  so  alone;  so  weak, 
so  blind,  and  no  halt;  driven  to  choose  and 
plunge.  Was  she  alone?  There  was  one 
outlet,  one  refuge;  there  always  is. 

She  cried,  "O,  God,  I  am  thy  child.  Lead 
me.  Lead  me." 

Suddenly  there  was  a  rap  at  her  door. 
The  servant  brought  Sibyl  a  note.  She 
turned  up  her  light  and  read: 

"Dear  MadJarn:  Permit  a  stranger  this 
word.  I  am  no  stranger  to  him  who  accom- 
panies you.  Edward  Mortimer  is  my  hus- 
band; Married  Apr.  -  — ,  183 — .  As  for- 
tune— rather,  Divine  Providence,  would  have 
it,  I  saw  you  as  you  first  set  foot  in  New 
York,  and  as  you  hastened  into  the  cab.  Nor 
did  Mr.  Mortimer  escape  seeing  me.  As 
confirmation  strong,  look  at  the  hotel  regis- 
ter. He  has  reported  his  name  as  "Mort 
Edwards  and  sister.'  Thin  disguise!  Pray- 
ing that  no  one  may  be  so  deceived  as  I  have 
been,  nor  innocently  suffer  as  I  have  suf- 
fered, and  hoping  it  is  not  too  late  to  save 
you  from  my  fate,  I  am 

"Elizabeth  Olmstead  Mortimer.'' 

"Married!  Mortimer  married!"  shrieked 
Sibyl,  and  unable  to  read  another  word, 
blinded,  .almost  stunned,  fell  into  a  chair  as 
if  struck  down  by  a  deadly  blow.  Then,  sud- 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


309 


denly,  and  with  all  the  resoluteness  of  the 
noble  woman  that  s'he  was,  she  sprang  to  her 
feet  and  almost  fiercely  snatched  up  the  lit- 
tle bit  of  paper  and  read,  and  read  again; 
and  then,  passing  her  hand  across  her  fore- 
head as  one  coming  out  of  a  'horrid  dream, 
slowly  read  and  weighed  each  sentence — each 
word.  Her  mind  flashed.  She  saw  all — un- 
derstood all.  That  seemingly  inexplicable 
confusion  of  Mortimer;  that  precipitate 
plunge  into  the  carriage;  that  woman's  gaze 
upon  them  of  cloud  and  fire;  here  was  the 
key  to  all  this;  Mortimer's  wife!  "He  such 
a  deceiver!  Arch  deceiver!  O,  that  cannot 
be;  it  cannot  be.  And  yet—  "  she  suddenly 
arose,  drew  her  wrap  about  her,  and  firmly 
descending  the  marble  stairs  to  the  office, 
consulted  the  hotel  register.  There  it  was, 
midway  on  the  page,  his  writing;  she  knew 
it  only  too  well: 

Mort  Edwards,  Room  39 

And  Sister,  Room  18 

The  clerk  looking  up  unconcernedly  from 
his  desk  as  Sibyl  moved  away,  could  but 
mark  the  indignation  which  burned  in  that 
face  of  rare  loveliness,  and  appeared  in  every 
movement  of  that  agile  form. 

With  the  first  promise  of  daylight,  a  close- 
ly muffled  lady  was  to  be  seen  giving  direc- 
tions to  a  coachman  to  drive  her  to  No.  28 
W.  Fortieth  street,  a  location  which  at  that 
time  was  at  the  extreme  northern  limit  of 
the  city.  "How  far?"  she  asked.  "Better'n 


310 


THE  RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


a  mile,  Ma'm."  "Very  well,  take  me  there 
as  quickly  as  you  can." 

"What  a  face,"  thought  the  coachman, 
"Never  saw  a  prettier  in  my  born  days;  but 
there's  trouble  there; — aih,  trouble's  in  the 
like  of  them  faices;"  and  the  philosophical 
driver  cracked  his  whip. 

Sibyl  sank  into  her  seat  and  sobbed  pit- 
eously.  For  hours  sine  had  not  shed  a  tear. 
Indignation  tossed  her  on  its  topmost  sea. 
But  now,  once  free — the  toils  broken  and  s'he 
escaped;  alone;  no  Robinson  Crusoe  ever  felt 
more  alone;  and  now  forced  to  seek  an  asy- 
lum among  strangers,  tears  seemed  Her  only 
resort. 

Daniel  Pierpont's  mother,  for  it  was  to  her 
Sibyl  was  going,  was  a  plain,  unpretending, 
modest  woman,  with  not  a  few  legends  of 
hard  experience  written  on  her  brow  and 
around  her  honest  eyes;  and  across  her 
storm  beaten  features  sympathy  and  benevo- 
lence played,  like  sunshine  over  the  ridges 
of  the  somber  cliff. 

To  say  that  she  was  not  surprised  at  Sib- 
yl's early  arrival,  and  did  not  mark  her  eyes 
swollen  with  weeping,  would  be  manifestly 
untrue;  but  to  say  that  with  womanly  wis- 
dom and  tact,  .she  veiled  her  surprise  and 
gave  a  motherly  welcome  to  her  Daniel's  pet 
friend,  the  lonely  home-starving  sc'hool  girl, 
would  accord  with  exact  fact.  Nor  was  she 
long  in  fancying  that  some  grief  deeper  than 
home  sickness  wounded  the  poor  girl's; 
heart. 


THE   KIVKKTOX   MIXISTKK. 


311 


That  evening,  a«s  Sibyl  and  Mrs.  Pierpont 
sat  alone  in  the  gloaming  by  the  warm  gralc, 
the  sore  soul  refused  longer  attempt  to  con- 
ceal its  wound.  Sibyl  told  it  all,  and  dear 
Mrs.  Pierpont  could  not  refrain  from  tears, 
mingled  with  anger,  nor  from  fervent  words 
of  gratitude  to  God,  as  she  realized  how  the 
dear  girl  hung  as  by  a  hair  over  the  preci- 
pice, and  by  some  timely  and  unexpected 
intervention  had  escaped.  The  mother  heart 
quickly  reflected,  too,  "What  if  it  had  been 
my  own  sweet  Mabel?"  Taking  Sibyl's 
hand  in  hers  they  sat  in  blessed  fellowship 
and  the  silence  of  overwrought  hearts. 

Immediately  the  dutiful  and  affectionate 
Sibyl  wrote  to  her  father  and  mother,  and 
with  childlike  and  characteristic  frankness, 
told  them  everything.  The  return  letter 
from  Gen.  Tupper,  of  course  confirmed  what 
she  had  begun  to  suspect,  that  the  lettor 
which  Mortimer  presented  to  Miss  Dean  at 
the  Seminary  was  a  base  and  cruel  forgery. 
Deciever,  liar,  Jesuitical  hypocrite,  every  day 
seemed  to  open  to  Sibyl  and  her  friends  a  yet 
lower  deep  of  baseness  in  the  polished  and 
adroit  villain. 

There  were  two  younger  inmates  of  Mrs. 
Pierpont's  home,  a  son  and  daughter,  Arling- 
ton and  Mabel.  The  former  was  a  deter- 
mined and  resolute  fellow — not  a  genius, 
except  so  far  as  genius  is  capacity  for  hard 
work.  Work  Arlington  Pierpont  would  and 
did,  and  his  intense  ambition  fed  and 


812 


THE   RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


directed  his  zeal.  But  what  fed  his  ambi- 
tion?  When  we  know  this,  we  will  know 
Arlington  Pierpont.  While  carrying  an 
almost  fierce  will  power,  it  was  veiled  under 
a  quiet  well  poised  demeanor,  and  aided  by 
a  generous  and  genial  nature  which  won  him 
favor  everywhere.  While  not  a  sport,  he 
was  sportive  and  athletic.  Very  few  city- 
bred  young  men  had  his  muscle. 

"If  I  reach  my  pinnacle,''  Arlington  rea- 
soned, "and  I  am  bound  to  get  there, — I  shall 
need  tough  fibre.  Mother  quotes  to  me, 
'Seek  ye  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  His 
righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be 
added  to  you,"  but  secretly  I  paraphase  it 
thus,  'Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  gold  and 
its  glory,  and  all  the  world  shall  be  at  your 
feet.'  Time  enough  in  the  future  to  take 
up  the  old  version  of  dear  puritanic  mother's 
text.  College,  well  its  a  solid  stepping  stone 
for  me,  and  I  came  off  with  eclat  there.  And 
now,  three  years  of  Blackstone  and  Kent 
have  magnificently  augmented  the  gray  mat- 
ter in  my  brain.  Judge  Phillips  Wenrworth 
thinks  he  has  read  me  through  and  judi- 
cially sized  me  up,  and  tomorrow  it  will  be 
'Wentworth  &  Pierpont,  Attorneys  and 
Counsellors  at  Law.'  Now  for  the  climb. 
The  Vanderveres,  the  Astrals  and  Belfontes 
wrill  now  open  their  gilded  palaces,  and  the 
hearts  of  their  fair  maidens  to  the  much 
talked  about  and  rising  young  attorney. 
Then,  there's  this  bright  and  bewitching 


THE    1UVKUTOX    MIMSTEK. 


313 


Sibyl,  this  pet  of  Daniel's,  this  transparent, 
lustrous  gem  of  the  'Golden  West,'  that  has 
just  dropped  into  our  home.  She's  enough 
to  dissolve  the  cold  calculating  opaque  heart 
of  even  this  sinner." 

Arlington  loved  to  play  sentimental  airs 
upon  the  harp,  and  often  Mabel,  and  Sibyl  by 
her  side,  accompanied  him  with  their  soft 
and  sympathetic  voices,  while  the  mother  bv 
the  window  sewing,  listened  with  a  deep 
though  tranquil  joy,  occasionally  looking  out 
of  the  window  with  that  absent  and  yet  ex- 
pectant look,  blind  to  immediate  objects,  and 
pensively  ruminating  the  past. 

But  the  cup  of  pleasure  overflowed  to  all 
in  the  house,  when  Daniel  Pierpont  and 
Emily  Sherburne,  now  Mrs.  Pierpont, 
arrived.  And  now,  in  the  first  surprise  and 
merriment,  and  while  all  are  talking  at  once, 
and  laugh  and  serious  and  jesting  remarks 
come  in  wholly  unreportable  style,  we  will 
just  take  occasion  to  say  that  after  a  lively 
correspondence  and  most  harmonious  adjust- 
ment, and  an  engagement  and  some  waiting 
and  various  delays,  and  after  the  death  of 
Emily's  father,  the  way  opened  for  their 
marriage.  Ruth,  still  in  the  old  home  on 
Church  Hill,  was  now  Mrs.  Harry  Burnham, 
and  dear  Jamie's  weary  heart  had  ceased  to 
beat,  and  he  had  gone  to  his  mother  and  his 
Saviour. 

This  visit  of  Mr.  Pierpont  and  his  bride  at 
his  maternal  home,  coinciding  so  happily 


THE   RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


with  Sibyl's  vacation  —  who  could  tell  the 
gratification  it  brought?  Of  this  not  the 
least  was  the  enjoyment  realized  when  Em- 
ily at  the  piano  was  the  center  of  the  admir- 
ing- and  affctionate  group. 

She  touched  the  keys  as  with  a  caress. 
Added  to  long  study,  and  to  accuracy  in  exe- 
cution, Emily  had  that  musical  Intuition 
which  constituted  her  a  choice  interpreter  of 
the  great  master  composers.  Her  refined 
and  finished  renderings  captivated  those 
about  her,  and  held  them  as  by  a  magic 
spell. 

Then,  too,  her  voice  in  song  was  pure, 
chaste  and  sympathetic,  and  went  straight 
to  the  heart.  She  seemed  to  carry  in  her 
nature  something  of  the  sunny  and  mellow 
air  of  her  delightful  southern  home. 

Do  you  wonder  that  Daniel  Pierpont,  as 
he  thought  of  the  long  years  of  uncertainty 
and  steadfast  waiting,  and  of  the  rich  fruit- 
age they  had  at  last  brought  him,  felt  that 
theihalf  could  never  be  told. 

Sabbath  morning  that  was  a  happy  group, 
the  Pierponts,  seated  together  at  church; 
and  who  but  a  mother  can  fully  understand 
that  mother's  emotions?  Was  it  accident, 
or  was  the  aptness  itself  an  illustration  of 
the  text,  When  the  minister  presented  these 
words,  "And  He  led  them  forth  by  the  right 
way?"  The  Lord  led  them  —  the  children  of 
Israel,  —  by  a  proverbially  crooked  path 
through  the  wilderness,  and  yet,  as  now 


THE  RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


315 


everybody  can  see,  it  was  by  God's  straight 
way. 

More  than  one  in  that  large  audience  felt 
that  the  Lord  had  led  the  pastor  to  exactly 
the  heavenly  manna  for  them.  Sibyl 
thought  she  was  a  personal  commentary  on 
the  minister's  text,  and  something  gathered 
in  iher  throat  as  she  tried  to  join  in  the  hymn: 

"Thus  far  the  Lord  has  led  me  on." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Sibyl's  vacation  passed  all  too  swiftly. 
She  and  Mabel  took  delight  in  traversing  the 
great  city  together,  and  sometimes,  to  their 
great  pleasure,  Mrs.  Pierpont  brought  her 
experience  to  bear  as  their  chaperone.  To 
our  western  girl,  every  day  brought  some  dis- 
covery or  adventure,  every  day  novelty,  ex- 
hiliration  and  rest,  and  not  only  more  com- 
plete acquaintance,  but  riper,  more  retentive 
friendship. 

What  with  counseling  clients,  many  of 
whom  Judge  Wentworth  was  only  too  glad 
to  place  in  the  hands  of  his  junior  partner, 
and  with  arguing  cases  in  the  court;  what 
with  office  work  and  with  consulting  heavy 
sheep  bound  volumes  of  law,  and  with  the 
growing  demands  of  his  club  rooms,  and  the 
increasing  calls  into  coveted  social  circles, 
Arlington  had  small  leisure  to  devote  to 
home  guests. 

Yet  Sibyl  and  Arlington  met  every  day, 
and  occasionally  he  would  give  with  her  a 
half  day  to  some  excursion — a  sail  in  the  har- 
bor, or  a  run  into  the  country,  or  through 
parks,  libraries  and  museums;  or  now  and 
then  an  evening  at  some  choice  concert 
or  "lecture." 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


317 


More  than  one  of  Arlington's  fair  lady  ad- 
mirers in  the  concert  room,  leveled  her  glass 
upon  this  queenly  stranger  who  sat  beside 
the  coveted  attorney;  "Such  eyes;  such  an 
intelligent  and  illuminated  face;  nothing 
rustic  there  surely.  But  who  is  she?" 

Together  with  the  Pierponts,  Sibyl,  with 
all  her  characteristic  zest,  rejoiced  in  the  aus- 
picious omens  which  were  bestudding  the 
sky  above  Arlington.  None  understood  bet- 
ter than  she  the  keen  joy  winch  comes  in  the 
flush  of  fresh  blossoming  success,  and  s'he 
found  herself  delighting  in  it  somewhat  as 
with  a  personal  interest.  Who  can  witness 
the  launching  of  a  ship,  and  not  feel  stirred 
somewhat  as  though  himself  identified  with 
it? 

Nor  was  it  strange  that  Arlington,  much 
as  he  prized  his  home,  was  coming  to  think 
of  it  as  possessing  a  peculiar  attraction,  now 
that  he  could  feel  sure  of  meeting  Sibyl  there. 
His  thought  was,  "Let  me  have  Sibyl  in  the 
society  of  the  affluent  and  fashion-leading. 
She  is  quick  to  isee  and  learn.  She'll  soon  be 
as  perfect  in  social  flavor  as  any  of  the  beau 
monde,  and  far  more  original  and  brilliant. 
She's  like  Judge  Wentworth's  French  wines 
which  smack  of  the  purple  clusters  on  the 
sun-clad  hills.  She's  of  the  timber  which 
will  polish  and  preserve  the  inimitable 
native  grain."  This  young  barrister  was  a 
skillful,  and,  in  this  case,  certainly,  a  cor- 
rect reasoner. 


318 


THE  RIVEETON  MINISTER. 


Life  at  school  was  doing  much  for  Sibyl. 
It  was  swinging  gates  ajar  'all  about  her,  and 
she  was  catching  precious  glimpses  into  a 
boundless  world;  tlhat  of  thought,  study  and 
the  ideal.  She  flushed  with  the  glow  of  dis- 
covery, and  the  eagerness  of  the  hungry  when 
finding  true  bread.  The  kaleidoscope  of  life 
was  manifold  and  ever  revolving  before  her, 
as  well  as  before  Arlington;  although  the 
scenes  and  shading  were  not  his.  She  en- 
joyed conversing  with  him,  discussing  books 
and  reading  and  weighing  his  estimates  of 
men  and  thngs,  and  testing  his  way  of  look- 
ing at  everything.  Not  so  well  versed  and 
fertile  in  opinions  as  he,  still,  as  with  her 
brother  George,  on  many  topics  she  stoutly 
dissented  from  Arlington's  positions; — a 
fact  which  greatly  amused  and  attracted  him. 

iSo,  on  smooth,  well  oiled  axles  vacation 
had  rolled  by.  The  school  girl's  trunk  was 
packed,  and  hastily  she  and  the  Pierponts 
were  taking  an  early  breakfast,  expecting  the 
hack  to  call  in  a  few  moments. 

It  was  an  unusual  hour  for  Arlington,  who 
loved  his  morning  nap,  but  this  morning  he 
was  .among  the  first  to  arouse  the  house. 
At  breakfast  he  was  unusually  silent  and 
self  absorbed;  and  several  times  as  Sibyl 
suddenly  looked  up,  she  discovered  him  gaz- 
ing abstractedly  at  her. 

It  was  all  arranged.  Henceforth  Sibyl 
was  to  consider  that  the  home  of  the  Pier- 
ponts was  one  of  her  homes.  Malbel  said  they 


THE  RIVEKTOX  MINISTER. 


319 


must  have  her  during  vacations,  and  Arling- 
ton declared  that  he  should  have  to  insti- 
tute suit  againist  her  if  she  violated  that  con- 
tract. 

As  on  the  September  morning,  Sibyl  be- 
gan to  retrace  her  steps  toward  the  Semina- 
ry, how  vividly  she  contrasted  herself  with 
the  Sibyl   of  a   few   weeks  previous.     How 
strange  the  old  hills  looked  in  the  light  of 
yesterday.     The  same  route,  same  scenes,  but 
could  it  be  that  she  was  the  same  one  who 
so  recently  looked  upon  them  through  such 
happy  dreams?     Dreams  indeed;  was  it  not 
all  a  dream?     Gould  it  be  reality?     Alas,  it 
was  the  cold  and  bitter  real.     He  who  Avas 
but  yesterday   the   trust,   the   hope   of   her 
heart,  the  'center   of   her   love,   so   suddenly 
stripped  of  all  disguise.     She  saw  now  the 
studied  deceit,  the  deliberate  diabolical  plot, 
which  wound  like  a  slimy  reptile  through, 
from  first  to  last  of  her  acquaintance  with 
Mortimer.     The  long,  cunning,  cruel,  crime! 
She  hid  her  eyes  as  if  trying  to  hide  from 
view  some  frightful  shape. 

The  bitter  cup  was  not  without  its  bless- 
ing to  Sibyl  Tupper.  Something  out  of  it 
was  wrought  into  the  sweet,  noble,  strong 
woman  that  s'he  was  to  be.  If  she  entered 
Seminary  Hall  with  a  step  a  trifle  less  buoy- 
ant, it  was  more  resolute  and  firm,  and  with 
no  misanthrophy,  with  her  faith  in  the  good 
stronger  than  ever. 

"I  was  perilously  near  the  whirlpool,"  she 


320 


THE  ETVERTON  MINISTER. 


said;  "  my  prow  already  dipping  into  the 
mad  vortex,  when  He  who  answers  prayer, 
in  the  very  nick  of  time,  snatched  me,  saved 
me;  and  surely  saved  for  some  good  purpose. 
He  must  have  something  for  me  to  do. 
Whatever  it  is,  I  want  to  do  it.  Blessed 
Manna's  old  word  so  often  was,  'Do  the  next 
thing;'  and  grand,  faithful  Mr.  Gold  win  used 
to  say,  'Whatever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do 
it  with  thy  might.'  Now  school  is  the  next 
thing,  study  the  'whatsoever  thy  hand  fmd- 
eth,'  and  I'll  do  it  too.  And  wherever  I  go, 
I'll  be  a  missionary;  who  knows  where? 
Perhaps  in  Riverton,  perhaps  in  India.7' 

Sibyl  lived  on  the  earth,  and  yet  in  a  house 
which  touched  the  heavens.  Under  such 
aims  and  aspirations  life  had  no  insipid  taste; 
rather  was  daily  filled  with  divine  nectar. 

Vacation  brought  Sibyl  to  New  York  once 
or  twice  a  year,  and  during  the  intervening 
months  communication  with  the  Pierponts 
was  by  occasional  correspondence.  She  was 
ever  charmingly  frank  in  expressing  her 
opinions  and  preferences,  and  Arlington  was 
equally  frank  in  declaring  to  her  his  plans, 
and  picturing  his  hopes.  Indeed,  so 
engrossed  was  he  in  his  personal  schemes, 
that  it  was  almost  impossible  for  him  to 
avoid  communicating  them  to  his  friends. 

It  was  the  evening  before  Sibyl's  gradua- 
tion day,  and  she  sat  alone  in  her  room. 
Her  simple  commencement  gown  which  was 
spread  on  the  bed  by  her  side,  had  success 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


321 


fully  passed  the  scrutiny  of  the  feminine  ar- 
tists. Her  graduating  essay,  tied  with  dainty 
blue  ribbon  by  Lucy  Barrow's  deft  fingers 
was  on  the  table  before  her,  and  she  had 
sportingly  dubbed  it  her  "Rubicon."  She 
was  reflecting,  "There  must  be  some  Rome 
for  me  to  conquer.  Wonder  where  it  is.  But 
I  shall  surely  know  that,  when  I  am  commis- 
sioned." 

Presently  two  letters  were  handed  in  to 
Sibyl.  Both  of  them  were  superscribed  in  a 
manly  hand  which  she  had  occasionally  seen 
before.  She  opened  the  one  from  Arlington 
first;  a  breezy  letter,  containing  an  account 
of  a  dinner  he  had  just  given  at  the  "Ham- 
iltonian." 

"Plates,"  he  wrote,  "were  laid  for  a  hun- 
dred guests.  Tip  top  fellows  they  were, 
every  one  of  them;  socially  and  politically 
the  very  cream  of  New  York.  Rich  and  ris- 
ing men,  they  represent  piles  of  money. 
Many  of  them  are  party  bosses.  They  run 
the  political  mill.  And  I  mean  to  make 
them  do  some  pretty  substantial  grinding 
for  me  this  Fall.  I  ain  laying  the  track  for 
the  office  of  prosecuting  attorney;  a  fat  office 
when  you  take  in  all  the  perquisites;  and  I 
shall  come  steaming  in  on  election  day.  My 
friends  are  going  en  masse  for  me,  and  say 
they  will  'stampede  the  convention/  but 
what  they  will  have  me  nominated.  This 
office,  however,  is  only  a  stepping  stone, 
am  bound  for  Congress,  and  who  knows  what 

21 


322 


TIIK   UIVKUTOX   MINISTEU. 


next?  My  campaign  speeches  are  ready  011 
tap.  I'll  play  most  musically  on  the  patri- 
otic chord,  if  Sain  Johnson  did  say  that  'Pa- 
triotism was  the  last  resort  of  scoundrels.' 
It-s  all  a  game  anyway,  and  I  may  as  well 
take  a  hand  in  it  as  anybody.  As  they  say 
out  in  your  Hoosier  State,  'The  longest  pole 
knocks  the  persimmons.' ' 

"The  dinner  cost  .a  deal  of  money,  but  it 
was  great,  and  the  wine  was  simply  superb. 
After  dinner  wit  scintillated  and  coruscated, 
and  the  host  was  covered  all  over  with  com- 
pliments and  glory.  Then  there  was  more 
wine  and,  more  demonstration,  and  then  the 
carriages  rolled  away.  Now  you,  my  un- 
worldly friend,  Sibyl,  are  shaking  your  head 
at  what  I  have  written,  but  some  day  you  will 
be  proud  of  me. 

"Last  ,and  most  important,  and  for  which 
in  fact  I  aim  writing  this  letter,  my  congratu- 
lations on  your  successful  and  flattering  com- 
pletion of  your  seminary  course.  And  now 
for  the  wide  wide  world." 

In  this  connection  we  will  say  that  Arling- 
ton Pierpont  omitted  saying  in  his  letter  to 
Sibyl,  that  some  of  the  after  dinner  speeches 
Showed  more  wine  than  wit.  Such  maudlin, 
slobbering,  vulgar  stuff  was  too  .sickening  to 
chronicle.  Drunken  hainds  hurled  glasses  of 
wine  against  the  beautifully  frescoed  walls; 
carpets  and  furniture  carried  indellible  marks 
of  the  midnight  revel.  Even  the  host  him- 
self all  but  lost  himself.  And  the  men  of 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


323 


the  company  who  were  temperate  and  self- 
trolled,  and  in  justice  it  can  be  said  that  they 
were  in  the  majority,  left  for  their  homes 
with  small  ceremony.  The  fact  is  Arlington 
Pierpont  was  already  launched  on  the  sea 
of  temptation,  and  was  boldly  wantoning 
with  its  billows. 

The  other  letter  brought  to  Sibyl  by  .that 
same  mail,  was  from  Jonas  Drake,  one  of  her 
early  acquaintances  at  Kiverton;  a  note  bear- 
inig  congratulations  and  friendly  wishes  from 
the  college  boy  to  the  college  girl.  Like  that 
received  from  the  city  lawyer,  it  breathed  of 
ardent  hopes  and  endeavors,  but  how  differ- 
ent from  those  of  Arlington;  in  implied  pur- 
pose and  preference  as  widely  sundered  from 
him  as  the  poles.  Jonas  was  resolved  on 
preaching  the  gospel,  and  his  present  object- 
ive point  wras  the  theological  seminary.  The 
modesty  of  Jonas,  coupled  with  manliness 
and  a  beautiful  enthusiasm  for  pure  ideals, 
impressed  Sibyl.  "The  contrast,"  she 
thought,  "Arlington  living  for  this  world 
only,  and  Jonas  for  both  worlds." 

The  next  year  Sibyl  spent  at  home  in  post 
graduate  work  along  several  divergent  lines. 
An  hour  of  the  morning  was,  as  she  said, 
devoted  to  a  cooking  school,  with  her  mother 
as  instructor.  For  another  hour  or  more 
sne  was  home  secretary  to  her  father.  An 
hour  of  the  afternoon  was  spent  in  English 
classics,  with  Mr.  Goldwin  as  teacher.  Also 
few  days  closed  without  visits  to  the  lowliest 
and  neediest. 


324 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


In  process  of  time  came  a  visit  of  Arlington 
Pierpont  to  his  brother  Daniel  in  Riverton, 
which  was  as  unexpected  as  it  was  signifi- 
cant The  tall,  handsome,  brilliant  attor- 
ney of  New  York,  was  a  conspicuous  and  dis- 
tinguished figure  on  the  streets  of  Riverton. 
His  evenings  were  sedulously  spent  at  Gen- 
eral Tappers. 

One  morning  Arlington  announced  to  Dan- 
iel and  Emily  that  time  was  up ;  that  he  must 
be  off;  that  duck  and  deer  hunts  on  these 
preserves  must  be  postponed;  that  legal  busi- 
ness was  pressing;  could  not  wait  another 
d&y.  As  he  flitted  into  Riverton  so  he  flitted 
out. 

At  this  time  George  Tupper,  fresh  from 
West  Point,  was  at  home  on  a  short  leave  of 
aibsence.  He  and  Arlington  were  soon  on 
friendliesit  terms,  jolly,  jocund,  and  faceti- 
ous. 

Scarcely  had  Arlington  so  suddenly  turned 
his  back  upon  Riverton,  when  George  has- 
tened to  the  room  of  his  idolized  sister,  Sibyl. 
To  his  surprise  she  was  as  cool  and  undis- 
turbed as  though  matches  and  marriages 
were  the  veriest  trifles,  to  be  had  at  any  mo- 
ment for  the  asking. 

In  high  glee  George  caught  her  up  in  his 
arms  and  kissed  her  profusely,  and  planted 
her  in  an  easy  chair  by  the  window,  and  him- 
self in  front  of  her. 

"Sib.  you're  a  diamond!"    Then  rather  re1- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


325 


pelled  by  her  deliberate  manner,  he  added; 
"Take  it  deuced  cool,  don't  you?" 

Sibyl  turning  on  him  a  half  reproving 
look,  asked,  "George  what  do  you  mean? 
Pray  explain  yourself." 

"Now  Sibyl,  no  playing  off.  Do  you  sup- 
pose we  are  blind?  Just  come  down  from 
your  high  mightiness.  Tell  a  fellow,  when 
is  the  wedding  to  be?  I'm  to  be  the  best 
man,  you  now,  so  I  hope  you'll  call  off  the 
affair  when  I  can  get  a  furlough." 

"Furloughs  enough,  if  you  wait  for  my 
bridal  day,"  said  Sibyl  indifferently. 

An  instant's  pause,  and  leaping  from  his 
chair  as  though  a  thunder  bolt  had  struck 
him,  he  shouted:  "Sibyl  Tupper!  What! 
You  don't  mean  to  say — you  don't  mean  to 
say — that  you  have  refused  Arlington  Pier- 
pont?" 

"I  mean  exactly  that,  George,  dear." 

"Sibyl!  Sibyl  Tupper!  You're  the  con- 
foundedest  idiot  the  s>un  shines  upon;"  and 
away  he  .stalked  out  of  the  room. 

Sibyl  caught  up  her  garden  hat  and  fol- 
lowing her  impulsive  and  irate  brother,  soft- 
ened down  his  ruffled  temper  with  her  sweet 
sisterly  tact,  as  she  knew  so  well  how  to 
do,  and  then,  arm  in  arm,  brother  and  sister 
strolled  down  by  the  river  bank,  which  had 
long  been  the  family  trysting  place,  and  sat 
dotwn  for  a  talk. 

'This  spot  is  romantic,George;it  is  historic. 
I>on't  you  remem'ber  that  Daniel  Pierpont 


326 


THE  RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


and  Cousin  Emily  were  sitting  in  this  very 
spot,  in  the  moonlight,  on  that  June  evening 
so  long  ago,  when  that  base  savage  shot  his 
arrow  into  the  flesh  of  poor  Pierpont?" 

"Yes,  and  if  I'm  not  mistaken,  that  was 
the  night  that  Cupid's  arrow  pierced  Emily's 
'heart." 

"And  there,  George,  is  the  very  old  log  on 
which  we  sat  that  bright  summer  day  when 
you  opened  to  me  your  soldier  boy  aspira- 
tions." 

"i&o  it  is,  Sib.,  so  it  is.  How  little  I  knew 
then  for  what  I  was  asking." 

And  so  in  a  sort  of  reminiscenc  mood  they 
chatted  on  for  some  time,  bringing  up  odds 
and  ends  of  their  good  old  times;  but  studi- 
ously avoiding  the  subject,  which,  for  both 
of  them,  filled  all  the  near  horizon,  until 
George  abruptly  said:  "Tell  me,  Sibyl,  why 
you  don't  marry  Arlington  Pierpont.  Time 
enough  yet  to  recall  your  hasty  decision,  for 
he  adores  you.  Don't  you  like  him? 

"I  see  much  to  admire  in  him,  George,  but 
I  don't  love  him.  I  can't  love  him.  It  did 
me  a  world  of  good  when  dear  Mama  folded 
me  in  her  arms  and  said,  'In  this  maitter  fol- 
low your  reason  and  your  heart,  my  darling; 
follow  your  reason  and  your  heart.' ' 

"Yes,  but  I  don't  see  why  he  don't  take 
your  heart.  He's  wondrous  clever;  bound  to 
reach  the  top.  Ten  years  more,  and  he'll  be 
in  Congress." 

"Congressman,  President  or    King;    that 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


327 


could  make  no  difference.  I  could  never 
marry  him.  Yon  can  call  it  moonshine,  or 
'piosity,'  or  whatever  yon  please,  George;  but 
the  truth  is  yon  and  Arlington  live  in  a  dif- 
ferent world  from  mine.  And,  much  as  I 
know  you  wish  to,  yon  cannot  understand 
my  feelings  and  motives  in  this  thing.  Ar- 
lington Pierpont  does  not  fill  my  ideal." 

"Hang  your  ideals.  Shades  of  Moses, 
Sib!  'Stop  your  pious  romancing.  Don't 
live  in  the  next  world  till  you  get  there. 
You  are  throwing  away  the  chance  of  a  life- 
time. You  may  grow  fanta'stic  and  priggish 
and  live  in  sack  cloth  and  ashes  till  yon 
wither  up,  and  then  draw  a  blank;  but  love 
without  glory  or  money  makes  a  poor  out- 
fit." 

Sibyl  grew  pale  and  flushed,  by  turns,  as 
she  silently  prayed  for  just  the  convincing 
word.  Then  with  quivering  lips  she  said: 
"George,  I  can't  look  at  life  solely  or  even  pri- 
marily from  a  commercial  view;  and  ought 
you  to?  There's  the  way  of  the  world  ami 
the  way  of  the  Christian,  and  you  and  I  with 
our  training,  ought  to  know  which  of  these 
ways  to  take.  Marriage  is  no  mere  bargain. 
Mind  you,  I  don't  despise  money,  but  I  do 
despise  these  all  'hire  and  salary'  estimates. 
Arlington  Pierpout  has  ability  and  applica- 
tion; is  determined  and  resolute;  has  posi- 
tion; has  rare  opportunity,  but,  George,  I 
fear  he  is  going  to  miss  his  opportunity. 
Moreover,  if  Arlington  had  every  other  quali- 


328  THE   HIVEUTOX  MINISTER. 

nation,  I  should  not  dare  to  marry  a  man 
who  sports  with  the  wine  cup." 

"Well,  Sibyl,  all  I  can  say  is,  you  are  hope- 
lessly, provokingly  old  fashioned." 

For  a  few  moments  brother  and  sister 
were  silent,  and  George  was  breaking  up 
dead  twigs  and.  tossing  them,  one  by  one, 
into  the  river,  and  looking  meanwhile  as 
though  his  ambitious  for  Sibyl,  one  by  one, 
were  floating  out  to  sea. 

"Let  me  read  you  this,"  said  Sibyl,  as  she 
drew  a  slip  of  paper  from  her  pocket.  It  is 
a  part  of  Mr.  Goldwin's  words  at  the  wed- 
ding of  Susie  Barton,  the  other  day.  They 
went  straight  to  my  heart  and  I  came  home 
and  wrote  them  down  while  they  were  fresh 
in  my  mind:  'Beloved  friends,  you  stand  here 
under  the  eyes  of  these  kind  observers  to 
confirm  a  union  already  established  in  your 
hearts ;one  which  has  God  as  its  founder,God 
as  its  protector.  (Sealed  in  purity  and  ce- 
mented in  the  love  of  tihe  heart,  it  is  the 
most  precious  of  earthly  bonds;  and  while  it 
brings  new  duties,  brings  also  new  and  high- 
er joys.  May  this  union  now  about  to  be 
consummated,  be  sweetened  and  hallowed  by 
your  mutual  consecration  to  our  common 
Lord  and  Kedeemer.' ' 

"Now,  George,  these  words  from  Mr.  Gold- 
win  exactly  comport  with  my  idea  of  a  true 
marriage.  More  could  not  be  asked  of  mor- 
tals, yet  I  could  not  be  satisfied  with  less. 
Could  I,  George?  Could  I?  Do  you  really 


THE  RIVEUTON   MINISTER. 


329 


want  me  to  be  satisfied  with  less?"  And 
-with  her  glorious  eyes  she  looked  straight 
into  'his. 

George  grew  thoughtful  and  subdued,  and 
for  a  few  moments  was  silent,  and  sat  look- 
ing abstractedly  at  the  little  island  in  mid- 
river,  where  the  birds  were  billing  and  coo- 
ing and  nesting  with  such  delicious  abandon 
and  with  none  of  the  perplexities  and  disap- 
pointments which  torment  us  human  kind. 
Ambitious  and  worldly  though  he  was,  at 
heart  there  ,was  something  in  him  respons- 
ive to  higher  and  nobler  things,  and  through 
Sibyl  he  often  caught  a  glimpse  of  them  and 
realized  his  own  lack.  His  sister's  rejection 
of  Arlington  Pierpont  amazed  and  angered 
and  disappointed  him,  and  then  gained  his 
respectful  toleration,  and  then  Ms  approval. 
"After  all,"  he  reflected,  "the  girl  may  be 
the  wisest  in  the  thing.  Time  will  tell." 

Elising,  he  said,  "Forgive  me,  Sibyl.     I've 

raved  at  you  like  a  bear.  I  suppose  you  are 
night;  from  your  standpoint  you  must  be; 
you  always  were  right, — you  and  Mr.  Gold- 
win.  Buss  me,  Sib.,  and  let's  go  home." 

Drawing  near  the  house,  Sibyl  tripped  off, 
George  after  her  and  dropped  down  on  the 
velvety  moss  under  the  old  basswood  tree, 
now  completely  grown  over  by  a  wild  grape 
vine.  How  the  climber  had  intertwined  and 
infolded  the  tree,  overtopping  it  and  trailing 
down  on  all  sides. 

"George,  this  Vine  has  improved  the  time 


330 


THE  RIVERTOX  MINISTER. 


since  we  sat  here  three  years  ago, — or  is  it 
four?" 

"That's  it,  Sib.  Gain  to  the  vine,  but  loss 
to  the  tree,  for  you  see  the  tree  has  surren- 
dered, and  simply  exists  for  something  else 
to  lean  upon,  and  coil  about,  and  absorb  its 
life.  See,  it  is  dying  at  the  core,  growing 
hollow,  branches  are  dead.  So  mo  day  in 
some  storm  the  tree  will  collapse,  and  away 
goes  the  vine  with  it." 

"Why,  George,  you  didn't  mean  it  but 
you've  given  me  exactly  the  parable  I  want 
this  very  minute;"  and  her  face  lighted  up 
with  the  discovery. 

"What'ts  on  tap  now,  my  charmer?  You 
can't  submerge  or  shock  me  again.  So  open 
out." 

"Since  you  urge  me,  George,  I  will  open 
out  and  you  may  fight  me  if  you  want  to,  if 
you  will  surrender  at  the  finish.  About  the 
vine,  I  don't  mean  to  be  a  vine;  simply  a 
leaner,  a  graceful  twiner,  a  parasite,  or  a 
trailer.  Call  me  'strong  minded'  if  you  will, 
but  I  Sicout  all  this  drabble  about  its  being 
masculine,  or  unwomanly  for  a  woman  to 
have  a  self-supporting  occupation,  a  calling, 
a  profession,  or  whatever  you  may  name  it. 
Not  a  preacher,  nor  a  lawyer  for  me.  Oh, 
no,  no.  But  what  do  you  say  to  my  being  a 
doctor?" 

"A  doctor!  What  trash  you  are  talking, 
Sibyl.  What's  got  into  you  lately?" 

"Nothing  except  a  little  of  the  old  Tupper 


MINISTER.  ...», 

O*>  1_ 

independence    and    be-something    spirit,     I 
guess." 

"Well,  now  what's  coming  next?  As  soon 
as  a  fellow  is  cooled  off  from  one  heat,  you 
bring  on  another.  You  are  more  exasper- 
ating than  a  half-day's  drill  under  a  Fourth 
of  July  sun;"  and  his  sti'ck  ploughed  up  the 
moss  savagely.  "A  doctor  indeed!  I  think 
I  see  you;  hair  cut  short,  parted  on  the  side, 
pill  bag  in  hand,  shingle  out: 

DOCTOR  SIBYL  TUPPER,  Spinster, 

Physician  and  Surgeon. 
Office  Hours,  8  to  10  a.  m.,  and  7  to  9  p.  m. 

"No  more  good  times  for  me  when  I  come 
home.  My  sister  a  servant  of  the  public;  a 
regular  social  petrifaction." 

At  this  Sibyl  rung  out  her  merry  conta- 
geous  laugh.  "Why,  George,  really  the  man- 
tle of  prophesy  has  fallen  on  you.  I  may 
never  put  out  my  shingle,  as  you  say;  but 
here's  Dr.  Bancroft,  up  to  date  in  surgical 
and  medical  science,  just  hungering  for  such 
a  student  as  I  would  mean  to  be, — one  with 
a  'bent'  you  see.  I  am  no  crank  or  comeou- 
ter  or  hobbyist,  George;  but  I  do  mean  to 
study  and  learn,  and  fit  myself  for  life  in  the 
fullest  meaning  of  that  word.  And  then,  a 
knowledge  of  medicine  would  be  almost  in- 
dispensable, if  I  should  be  a  missionary;— 
oh,  George,  don't  stare  at  me  so!  You 
frighten  me.  You  must  let  me  think  out 


THE   RrVERTON  MINISTER. 


loud  to  you.  However,  as  to  my  particular 
career,  I  have  no  anxiety  about  that;  It  will 
shape  itself." 

"Well,  Sibyl,  go  and  talk  your  wild  raga- 
ries  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwin,  and  give  me 
a  rest.  I  can't  fight  any  more  before  dinner, 
and  I  won't  surrender.  Hello!  There's  the 
dinner  bell.  That's  music  to  a  hungry  fel- 
low. This  is  the  day  for  Jane's  pot  pie  and 
apple  dumplings.  You've  given  me  a  glori- 
ous appetite,  Sib." 


OHAPTEK  XXX. 

Three  more  years  have  passed  over  River- 
ton.  A  Sabbath  softness  and  tranquil  joy  are 
floating  on  the  air,  and  nature  seems  an  em- 
bodiment of  worship.  It  is  one  of  those 
sweet  summer  days  that  lie  like  islands  of 
enchantment  between  the  .waves  of  heat  and 
cold.  It  is  not  the  Sabbath,  but  it  is  mid- 
week, and  yet  the  Biverton  church  is  open, 
and  the  people  are  flocking  to  it.  The  ushers 
are  specially  busy,  ubiquitious  and  gracious. 
And  well  they  may  be,  for  they  seldom  have 
a  greater  opportunity. 

The  audience  room  is  filling  very  fast. 
Today  no  objections  to  front  seats.  Flowers 
are  almost  everywhere,  and  the  pulpit  is  em- 
bowered and  well  nigh  buried  with  them. 

"Your  voiceless  lips,  O  flowers,  are  living 

preachers, 
Each  cup  a  pulpit,  every  leaf  a  book." 

Their  language  goeth  everywhere,  and 
they  graciously  temper  the  odor  of  sanctity, 
harmonizing  it  with  the  calm  triumphant  joy 
which  exhales  from  all  hearts.  Flowers  fitly 
garland  this  day  of  spiritual  espousals. 

On  the  pulpit  platform  are  several  clergy- 
men. Among  them,  and  sitting  to  the  right, 


THE   RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


is  tiie  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Whiting,  President 
of  tlie  College  from  which  Jonas  Drake  was 
graduated;  and  to  the  left  is  the  Rev.  Henry 
Littleton,  who  has  encouraged  so  many 
pioneer  churches  into  permanent  life.  In 
the  center  sits  the  Riverton  minister  abiding 
in  the  fullness  of  his  strength,  and  carrying 
no  ominous  prints  of  the  passing  years. 

Seated  immediately  in  front  of  the  pulpit 
is  a  man  with  a  face  as  modest  and  manly 
as  you  ever  set  eyes  on.  His  dark  hair 
shades  a  fine  strong  brow,  and  there  are  sug- 
gestions of  unfathomed  depths  in  those  large 
blue  eyes. 

Do  you  recognize  in  this  man  the  boy  Jonas 
with  whom  Mr.  Goldwin  once  sat  on  the 
rocks  which  fret  the  swift  waters  of  the  Rap- 
pilee,  and  threw  out  a  line  to  tempt  the  wary 
pickerel  and  bass?  What  if  there  were  other 
lines  thrown  out  on  that  day  into  deeper 
depths,  and  those  which  will  reach  into  far 
days  and  lands. 

Jonas  Drake  has  completed  his  college  and 
theological  seminary  course,  and  has  been 
interviewed  concerning  several  of  the  more  at- 
tractive and  promising  paistorates,to  any  one 
of  which  he  seems  well  adaipted;  but,  true 
to  the  spirit  which  he  has  early  imbibed  un- 
der Mr.  Goldwin's  ministry,  he  has  promptly 
turned  from  them  to  choose  an  almost  entire- 
ly missionary  enterprise,  in  one  of  the  most 
crowded  amd  neglected  districts  of  the  city 
of  New  York. 


TllK    KIVKUTON    M1MSTKK. 


335 


Now  that  he  is  to  be  ordained  to  the  minis- 
try he  says,  "Where  a  place  so  fitting  as  at 
home  among  my  old  friends  and  neighbors? 
And  who  shall  preach  the  sermon  if  not  Mr. 
Godwin?"' 

The  preliminary  session  for  testing  and 
parsing  upon  the  candidate  has  been  held. 
The  ministers  have  aired  their  pet  theories 
and  crucial  doctrines  in  their  catechizing  of 
the  young  recruit;  but  he  has  stood  fire  suc- 
cessfully. 

True,  old  Father  Crane  screwed  about 
in  his  seat;  a  little  uneasy  because  he  missed 
from  the  answers  of  the  candidate  the  an- 
cient stereotyped  forms,  and  listened  in  vain 
for  the  hackneyed  phrases.  Dr.  Ball,  too,  at 
first  eyed  Jonas  quite  askance,  and  turned  his 
antique  guns  upon  him.  But  Jonas,  as  it 
proved,  had  looked  into  the  intricacies  and 
dark  problems  quite  as  far  as  had  Dr.  Ball, 
and  his  modest  but  skillful  turns  hedged  in 
the  Doctor,  and  indeed  several  times  brought 
down  the  house.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Goldwin  ex- 
changed glances  and  smiled  inwardly. 

One  thing  became  sufficiently  evident: 
Jonas  was  well  acquainted  with  his  Bible, 
and  his  doctrinal  system  and  his  faith  grew 
not  chiefly  out  of  one  or  two  isolated  ex- 
cerpts, but  out  of  the  manifest  meaning  and 
teaching  of  the  Bi>ble  as  one  book;  as  a 
unit;  grew7  out  of  it  as  naturally,  as  grace- 
fully as  the  branch  out  of  the  vine.  It  is 
clear,  thought  the  ministers,  that  this  young 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


man  knows  his  Bible  and  intends  to  preach 
it. 

But  doubtless  the  most  impressive  moment 
came  previous  to  this,  when  Jonas  being 
asked  to  give  in  some  detail  his  religious  his- 
tory and  experience,  did  so  in  terms  simple, 
tender  and  really  eloquent.  His  early 
thoughts  and  queryings  all  to  himself,  his 
apparently  barren  but  really  absorbent  and 
germinant  boyhood;  how  his  mother  then  un- 
derstood him  so  well  and  dealt  with  him  so 
wisely;  bow  Mr.  Goldwin  fished  with  him, 
won  him,  and  stole  into  his  heart  before  he 
knew  it;  how  he  led  him  into  the  light  and 
love  of  Christ,  and  out  under  the  infinite 
skies  of  divine  thinking  and  living;  —  all  this 
was  so  simple,  so  touchingly  truthful,  that 
the  attention  and  interest  became  intense. 
When  he  said,  "Brethren,  my  Saviour  always 
first,  and  my  mother  and  my  pastor  next," 
there  was  no  dry  eye  in  that  audience. 

A  moment's  pause,  and  Mr.  Goldwin  asked 
the  candidate  to  state  his  views  concerning 
the  application  of  Christianity  to  life,  the 
life  that  we  are  living.  Here  Jonas  was 
quite  at  the  front. 

"As  it  appears  to  me,"  he  replied,  "im- 
mense spaces  of  human  thought  and  conduct 
lie  as  yet  untouched  by  the  ten  command- 
ments or  by  Christian  love.  As  ministers,  we 
are  appointed  of  God  to  lead  the  way  in 
bringing  the  gospel  of  Christ  to  bear  upon 
politics,  the  ballot,  slavery,  marriage, 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


divorce,  the  liquor  business,  the  gambling 
den,  the  impure  resort,  upon  buying  and  sell- 
ing, upon  the  entire  use  of  money;  upon  the 
relations  of  rich  and  poor,  employer  and  em- 
ployed, white  man  and  red  man,  black  man 
and  every  other  man.  Since  you,  brethren, 
have  asked  me  the  question,  may  I  not  ask, 
is  it  not  the  fact  that  we  have  not  yet 
dreamed  of  applying  Christianity  except  in 
spots?"  'Mr.  Goldwin's  face  was  radiant. 

"But,"  said  Dr.  Ball,  "my  dear  young  man, 
with  all  this  array  of  side  shows,  how  are 
you  to  find  time  to  preach  the  gospel?" 

Promptly  came  the  reply,  "Dr.  Ball,  I  do 
not  expect  to  find  time  for  anything  except 
preaching  the  gospel.  I  know  of  no  side 
shows.  There  is  a  system  of  truth,  no  doubt; 
and  we,  as  we  hope,  have  caught  glimpses  of 
it,  and  I  mean  to  preach  the  truth  and  noth- 
ing but  the  truth  as  it  is  in  the  Bible,  so  far 
as  I  know  it.  But  I  do  not  live  for  my  sys- 
tem. That  is  not  my  object.  My  system  is 
good  for  naught,  except  as,  by  the  help  of 
God,  I  can  make  it  save  men.  Lost  men  are 
what  I  am  after,  and  the  gospel  of  Christ, 
pure,  simple  and  direct,  is  my  instrument  for 
reaching,  for  rescuing  them.  Wherever 
there  is  a  human  being  who  needs  Christ, 
there  is  my  pulpit  and  my  audience."  It 
was  evident  that  with  some  of  the  brethren 
this  view  of  the  work  of  the  ministry  meant 
for  them,  in  their  thinking  and  their  meth- 
ods of  work,  revolution. 

M 


338  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

The  editor  of  "The  Watchman  of  the  Val- 
ley" was  in  Kiverton  at  this  time,  and  for  a 
double  purpose.  At  an  early  hour  in  the 
morning  he  called  together  the  ministers, 
and  with  business  directness,  sprung  upon 
them  two  questions,  and  said  that  as  soon  as 
they  were  answered,  and  this  blessed  young 
man  was  dubbed  a  preacher  of  the  gospel, 
he  must  face  toward  the  big  city  by  the 
Ohio. 

He  asked,  "Do  you  like  The  Watchman  of 
the  Valley?  And  what  can  you  do  to  help 
me  to  make  the  paper  better?" 

"Of  course  we  like  The  Watchman  of  the 
Valley,"  answered  half  a  dozen  voices.  "You 
know  we  do,"  said  Bro.  Littleton. 

"Well  then,  if  you  do,  why  haven't  you 
told  a  poor  despairing  editor  so  before? 
Without  doubt,  your  wife  knows  that  you 
love  her,  but  she  wants  you  to  tell  her  of  it 
once  a  week  or  so,"  said  the  editor.  This 
was  pat,  and  a  broad  smile  went  around. 

"Your  editorial  on  divorce  laws,"  remarked 
Dr.  Whiting,  "was  a  long  step  in  advance. 
As  you  say,  'let  the  law  be  placed  on  the  stat- 
ute book,  that  no  divorced  party,  except  he 
be  divorced,  for  the  scriptural  reason  which 
breaks  the  marriage  bond,  shall  be  allowed 
to  marry  again  until  five  years  subsequent  to 
receiving  divorce  papers,  and  nine-tenths  of 
the  suits  for  divorce  would  be  declared  off." 

Then  a  good  natured  free-lance  discussion 
as  to  how  to  edit  a  paper,  followed,  and  after 


THE!  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


339 


numerous  suggestions  and  endorsements,  all 
cordially  agreed  with  Mr.  Goldwin,  that  it 
was  no  easy  task  to  discern  the  word  for  each 
hour,  to  keep  just  enough  in  advance  of  the 
people  to  lead  them,  and  that  the  editor,  like 
the  preacher,  needs  outlook,  needs  the  vis- 
ion of  the  seer;  needs,  indeed,  a  sixth  sense; 
a  sense  of  the  interesting  and  the  timely,  as 
well  as  of  the  useful. 

As  we  have  seen,  the  ministers  are  now  on 
and  about  the  pulpit  platform,  the  audience 
is  in  full  attendance,  and  Mr.  Goldwin  Is 
preaching  the  ordination  sermon.  His  spe- 
cial theme  is,  "Our  Saviour's  Pulpit."  We 
can  only  give  the  merest  outlines  of  the  elo- 
quent discourse. 

Mr.  Goldwin  said :  "Christ  was  our  model 
in  respect  to  his  pulpit,  as  well  as  in  respect 
to  everything  else.  He  stepped  into  a  boat 
and  bade  his  disciples  push  out  a  little  from 
the  land,  and  from  thence  he  addressed  the 
multitude. 

"His  was  a  floating  pulpit,  sensitive  to  ev- 
ery breath  of  air,  every  agitation  of  the  ele- 
ments;— no  rock  or  stone,  impassive,  irre- 
sponsive to  the  forces  around. 

Nevertheless,  His  was  an  anchored  pulpit; 
—never  adrift,  never  at  the  mercy  of  the 
elements;  recognized  every  movement,  but 
never  was  ruled  by  it;  always  in  the  deep, 
never  the  deep  in  it. 

"His  was  the  pulpit  of  a  large  auditorium, 
— large  as  all  out  of  doors;  addressed  Jew 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


and  Gentile,  Dives  and  Lazarus,  the  little 
children  and  the  hoary  patriarch,  China  and 
India  and  all  that  lies  between. 

"His  was  a  human  pulpit,  always  in  ear- 
shot of  man;  'acoustically  was  perfectly 
placed;  touched  every  string  of  the  human 
harp,  and  with  the  caressing  touch  of  the 
sweetly,  profoundly  human. 

"His  was  a  divine  pulpit, — always  open 
toward  heaven." 

Mr.  Groldwin's  closing  words,  addressed  to 
Jonas,  were  "fu  tender,"  hopeful,  trium- 
phant; a  father  to  his  true  and  very  dear 
son. 

Dr.  Whiting  then  delivered  a  brief  address 
which  was  in  many  ways  a  gem,  apostolic, 
classic,  uplifting.  Rev.  Bro.  Littleton  fol- 
lowed with  the  ordaining  prayer. 

During  the  singing  of  the  closing  hymn, 
to  the  surprise  of  the  congregation,  Jonas 
walked  out,  and  then,  as  soon  as  the  people 
were  seated,  to  their  still  greater  surprise, 
Jonas  walked  in  with  Sibyl  Tupper  at  his 
side,  and  the  two  took  their  places  immedi- 
ately in  front  of  Mr.  Goldwin  and  were  mar- 
ried. 

Five  years  and  a  half  have  passed  since 
the  blessed  wedding  day  of  Jonas  and  Sibyl ; 
years  full  of  work  among  the  lowest  in  a 
very  neglected  quarter  of  New  York  City. 
Many  of  the  coveted  pulpits  of  that  city  were 
opened  to  the  gifted  young  man,  but  none  of 
them  were  large  enough  to  tempt  him  or  his 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


341 


God-sent    helper,    Sibyl,    from    his    rapidly 
growing  missionary  church. 

Now  we  come  upon  an  event  which  we 
would  gladly  spare  from  these  pages.  It  is 
a  night  in  January,  and  bitter  cold.  The 
clock  in  the  great  tower  is  solemnly  tolling 
the  midnight,  and  the  fevered  throb  in  this 
congested  ganglion  of  the  city  is  unwontedly 
smbdued.  For  a  moment  even  the  wicked 
have  ceased  from  troubling,,  and  some  of  the 
weary  are  at  rest. 

For  three  days  Jonas  with  a  policeman  at 
Ms  side,  has  been  searching  for  a  lost  man. 
Every  clew  has  failed,  and  in  despair  he  is 
almost  ready  to  abandon  the  search,  when 
at  last,  in  a  battered  and  all  but  roofless 
hovel,  with  only  the  cold  stars  as  sentinels, 
the  lost  is  found,  stiff,  frozen  and  stark  dead. 
Drink  has  done  its  worst  and  Arlington 
Pierpont  is  gone. 

It  is  the  only  too  familiar  story.  Petted 
and  flattered  by  the  rich,  solicited  with  the 
wine  glass  from  the  hands  of  bewitching 
loveliness,  hobnobbed  with  the  sated  scions 
of  wealth  and  fashion,servin<g  their  hour  in 
the  brilliance  of  his  entertaining  genius;  gay 
salons  of  women,  wit  and  winie,then  the  club 
room  and  the  wine  and  more  wine,  then  the 
gambling  table  and  the  inevitable  drink,then 
the  gilded  saloon;  power  of  sustained  work 
gone,  clients  gone,  money  gone,  political 
friends  and  chums  of  better  days  go*e,  am- 
bitions and  aspirations  gone,  self-respect  and 


THB  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


manhood  gone,  pleading  of  mother  and 
brother  and  sister  unavailing;  —  then  at  last 
the  low  dive. 

Not  at  a  leap,  did  Arlington  Pierpont  go 
down,  but  by  gradual  descent,  and  with  in- 
tervals of  repentance,  and  brief  and  yet 
briefer  reform,  till  at  last  it  is  almost  un- 
broken debauch,  ending  in  delirium  and 
death. 

In  the  pocket  of  the  dead  man  was  found  a 
note,  written  a  week  or  more  previous  to  his 
death,  and  probably  in  the  last  sober  mo- 
ments he  ever  knew. 

"My  precious  mother:  A  horrible  pit 
yawns  before  me,  and  a  thousand  demons  are 
at  its  bottom  waiting  to  welcome  me.  'At 
the  last  it  biteth  like  a  serpent  and  stlngeth 
like  an  adder.'  You  told  me  so  and  now  T 
know  it  to  be  the  truth.  I  am  a  slave  to 
drink.  I  have  broken  your  heart,  and  this 
thought  will  sting  me  forever. 

"Your  lost  boy, 

"Arlington." 

Two  weeks  later,  Daniel  and  Mabel,  and 
Jonas  and  Sibyl  by  her  bedside,  the  broken 
hearted  mother  passed  into  the  exceeding 
peace  of  heaven. 

Poor,  lonely  Mabel!  Sibyl,  in  her  simple 
and  resistless  way,  took  the  dear  girl  to  her- 
self and  her  home.  They  were  as  one.  Ma- 
bel always,  wherever  she  might  be  placed, 
was  forgetting  self  in  doing  service  and  kind- 
ness to  others,and  here  in  Sibyl's  medical  dis- 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


343 


pensary,  and  in  ministry  to  the  friendless  and 
poor  s/he  found  exactly  her  work  and  her  hap- 
piness. 

Beside  this,  many  a  day  witnessed  this 
sweet,  modest,  brave  girl,  medicine  case  in 
hand,  going  among  the  squalid  hovels, 
climbing  the  battered  and  filthy  stairs  of 
wretched  tenement  houses,  kneeling  by  the 
sick,  the  -sinning  and  the  sinned  against,  hud- 
dled in  dark  cellars  or  desolate  attics;  time 
after  time  bringing  love,  sympathy,  and, 
where  it  was  wise,  assistance  and  pecuniary 
help,  until  those  hard-faced,  imbruted,  cal- 
lous beings  began  to  say,  "I  really  do  believe 
she  cares  for  us;"  and  many  a  despondent, 
heartless  recreant  began  to  catch  visions  and 
hopes  of  better  possibilities. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Pass  now  to  a  date  more  than  forty  years 
after  Mr.  Goldwin  first  set  foot  in  Riverton. 
The  forms  of  many  of  those  with  whom  we 
have  been  familiar,  resit  now  in  the  silent 
city  of  the  dead  on  the  eastern  slope  of  that 
now  populous  commercial  cenrer. 

A  marble  monolith  bears  the  name,  "Tup- 
per," and  beneath  its  shadow  is  gathered  all 
that  is  mortal  of  General  and  Mrs.  Tupper. 
George  Tupper  fell  while  gallantly  leading 
his  brigade  to  the  charge  in  the  late  Civil 
War.  John  Tupper  studied  law  with  Mr. 
Pierpont,  and  in  '49  was  caught  in  the  tide 
which  swept  so  many  to  California. 

Here  in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  he, 
at  length,  to  his  great  surprise,  stumbled 
upon  Edward  Mortimer.  Marked  and  bent 
with  a  weight  which  was  far  more  than  that 
of  years,  sin-visaged  and  unkempt,  and  pass- 
ing under  several  aliases,  now  and  then 
something  of  his  former  courtliness  of  man- 
ner appeared,  like  the  blossom  on  the  nettle. 
He  had  at  last  rendered  himslf  so  odious 
that  prison  walls  with  difficulty  protected 
him  from  summary  justice  at  the  hands  of 
"Judge  Lynch."  Under  this  remnant  of  a 
man,  Tupper,  who  had  not  seen  him  for  more 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


345 


than  fifteen  years,  recognized  the  identical 
Mortimer,  who  entirely  failed  to  recognize 
the  boy,  John  Tupper,  in  the  Judge  Tupper, 
before  whom  he  was  arraigned. 

To  the  utter  amazement  of  the  criminal, 
the  Judge  proceeded  to  review  his  whole  his- 
tory, his  excellent  parentage,  whose  name  he 
had  always  dishonored,  whose  pillow  he  had 
filled  with  thorns;  his  noble,  guileless  wife, 
whom  he  had  coldly,  deliberately  deceived 
and  deserted;  his  plots  and  lewd  attempts 
upon  innocence;  his  dissolute  effrontery,  in- 
solence, and  nauseating  hypocrisy;  his  vag- 
abond and  vermin  ed  life,  a  slimy  serpent 
crawling  under  the  fair  flowers  of  earth. 

This  blot  upon  creation,  this  criminal  so 
long  a  stranger  to  the  blush  of  purity  or 
honor,  so  impregnable  in  his  self  compla- 
cency, so  hideously  audacious  in  his  villainy, 
at  first  stared  unconcernedly  at  the  Judge, 
then,  as  he  listened,  surprise  became  blank 
amazement;  then  he  seemed  .suddenly  to  re- 
call something  with  a  sting.  Then  athwart 
his  dark  visage  flashed  a  light,  swift,  mo- 
mentary and  lurid  as  lightning  bolts  across 
a  cloud — a  flash  of  discovery  which  said 
more  plainly  than  words,  "Ah,  Judge,  now  I 
recognize  you;  see  in  your  features,  resem- 
blances which  glass  before  me  one  whom  I 
beguiled,  and  but  for  an  interposing  God, 
had  forced  to  be  a  partner  in  my  infamy  and 
ruin."  He  seemed  to  himself  to  stand  uncov- 
ered in  the  revealing  fires  of  the  last  Day. 


THE  RIVERTQN  MINISTER. 


In  spite  of  himself,  his  once  superb  frame, 
now  shattred  and  broken,  trembled;  and  his 
countenance  assumed  what  seemed  the  pallor 
of  death.  The  judge  impaled  him  on  the  jav- 
elins of  his  uncounted  crimes,  and  tortured 
him  until  the  spectators  hung  breathless,  and 
almost  their  indignation  had  turned  to  pity. 

Then  promising  the  miscreant  that  if  he 
was  ever  seen  by  mortal  eye  again  on  that 
coast,  it  should  be  the  last  of  earth  to  him. 
and  on  'condition  that  he  should  flee  the  con- 
tinent before  the  next  sunrise,  the  Judge  dis- 
missed the  case.  Before  an  hour  had  passed., 
the  wretch  had  engaged  as  cook  on  a  whaling 
vessel  just  putting  out,  and  thus  Edward 
MJortimer  dropped  forever  from  public  view. 

At  length,  with  pockets  well  lined  with 
shekels,  Judge  John  Tupper  returned  to  Eiv- 
erton,  opened  a  law  office,  married  the  at- 
tractive Waxie  Drake  and  installed  her  to 
preside  at  the  old  Tupper  home. 

Turn  again  to  that  same  hillside  place  of 
graves.  There  is  a  little  square  plot  of 
ground  marked  off  by  an  iron  fence,  and 
almost  filled  with  hillocks.  The  bronze 
plate  on  the  iron  gate  bears  the  name  of 
"Perkins."  Here  are  the  graves  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Perkins,  and  of  several  of  their  adult 
sons.  The  father  had  been  a  phenominally 
successful  Indian  trader,  and  was  a  large 
land  holder.  His  three  daughters  were  noble 
women.  Several  of  his  sons  ran  as  swiftly 
as  intemperance  and  vice  could  carry  them, 
to  the  grave. 


THE   RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


347 


One  of  them,  amid  great  eclat,  was  mar- 
ried to  Kate  Grande.  Mrs.  Ool.  Grande 
plumed  herself  vastly  on  bringing 
about  'so  "splendid  a  match."  But 
the  bridegroom  was  hardly  sober  when 
the  solemn  words  were  said,  and  in  less  than 
a  twelve  month  the  foul  debauchee  was  borne 
with  much  pomp  to  a  really  dishonorable 
grave.  Alas!  How  many  funerals  of  this 
kind  Mr.  Goldwin  could  recount. 

A  few  step's,  and  we  are  on  thp  'gravel 
walk  which  leads  to  Samuel  Drake's  hospit- 
able door.  How  the  trees  have  reached  out 
and  up;  have  grown  venerable  and  majestic. 
The  honeysuckle  still  curtains  'and  garlands 
that  window  where  we  last  saw  Mrs.  Drake, 
her  sewing  in  her  lap,  and  sweet  thoughts 
which  might  have  graced  a  seraph's  lyre, 
working  into  the  stitching.  Occasionally  as 
she  lifted  her  eyes  to  the  far  away  "blue,"  she 
sent  thoughts  swifter  than  the  lark  and 
sweeter  than  fragrant  honeysuckle,  straight 
to  the  Great  White  Throne. 

Dear,  good  Mrs.  Drake,  divinely  guided 
counselor,  consoler,  friend.  The  King  had 
need  of  her.  She's  close  by  her  Lord  now. 
Her  monument?  Look  around,  in  her  home; 
in  her  church;  in  the  secret  place  of  hearts 
she  had  cheered  and  enriched.  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Goldwin  said  when  she  ascended,  that  earth 
had  lost  something  which  could  never  come 
to  them  again, this  side  of  Heaven. 

But  there  is  Mr.  Barnett;  call  him  Jack 


348 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


and  he'll  not  resent  it.  His  Vermont  wife 
passed  away  years  ago,  and  now  he  is  mar- 
ried to  Rachel  Drake,  that  beautiful  compo- 
site of  father  and  mother,  and  thev  affection- 
ately cling  to  the  old  Drake  fireside. 

We'll  follow  Mr.  Barnett  thr  ->ugh  the  fam- 
iliar house.  Ah!  Sure  enough,  there's  Sam- 
uel Drake  just  out  the  back  door,  on  the 
bench  under  the  apple  tree, — and  the  kind 
eyes  of  the  old  dog  look  up  'at  his  master,  as 
if  he  wanted  to  say,  "We  are  growing  old 
together." 

Sam  and  his  dog,  "Mixer  No.  3."  The  vet- 
eran pioneer  doesn't  spring  to  his  feet  as 
promptly  as  when  we  saw  him  last.  "Rn<eu- 
matiz"  stiffens  his  limbs.  But  he's  still  plain 
homespun,  honest,  contemplative  Sam  Drake. 
Rachel  rests  her  hand  on  his  shoulder  and 
caressingly  smoothes  the  gray  locks  over  his 
temples.  How  her  tender  love  soothes  his 
bereft  soul. 

But  if  you  want  to  see  the  old  time  lustre 
in  his  eye,  speak  the  word,  "Jonas."  He'll 
not  be  long  in  telling  you  of  his  boy's  great 
work  in  New  York  City.  And  Jonas'  chil- 
dren; ah  ,the  children!  some  of  them  nearly 
grown.  Well,  you  may  as  well  sit  down,  for 
Sam  won't  let  you  off  now  until  he  has  gone 
them  all  over;  given  you  their  names,  ages, 
and  their  several  kinks  and  specialties. 

And  Sibyl?  Sam  Drake  thinks  she's  the 
flower  of  the  world.  And,  in  truth,  Sam.  is 
about  right.  Sibyl  is  the  same  wonderful 


THE  RIVBRTON  MINISTER. 


349 


woman,  only  maturer,  and,  if  possible,  of 
more  manifold  beauty.  She  mingles  in 
blessed  unity  the  every  day  natural,  and  the 
ideal  and  the  spiritual. 

As  for  Jonas,  eloquent  and  devoted  minis- 
ter, he  says  that  those  who  are  always  pity- 
ing him  because  his  work  lies  among  the  poor 
and  neglected,  are  wasting  their  breath. 
Said  he,  "I  would  rather  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  poor,  than  to  be  President  of  the  United 
States;"  and  he  is  always  maintaining  that 
it  is  Mr.  Goldwin  more  than  any  other  man 
who  speaks  through  him. 

We  miss  from  the  streets  of  Ri  vert  on  the 
tall  soldierly  form  of  Col.  Grande.  Surviv- 
ing Mrs.  Grande  by  several  years,  one  day 
he  was  suddenly  siezed  with  a  violent  fever, 
and  in  the  ravings  of  delirium,  he  was  an 
nouncing  himself  as  candidate,  now  for  Jus- 
tice of  the  Peace,  now  for  City  Clerk,  and 
now  for  Constable  of  the  third  ward,  and 
finally,  before  sinking  into  a  comatose  state, 
from  which  he  never  rallied,  he  was  mutter- 
ing something  about  Henry  Clay. 

Dr.  Bancroft,  brusque  and  benevolent  as 
ever,  still  practices  his  profession  among  a 
select  circle  of  old  friends,  who  will  not  con- 
sent thiat  he  should  surrender  them  to  any 
other  physician.  Long  ago  he  built  himself 
a  house  on  the  street  just  back  of  Mr.  Gold- 
win,  and  Mrs.  Bancroft  we  are  pleased  to 
remember  as  the  even,  kindly  and  discerning 
Isabel  Tupper. 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


Over  against  Dr.  Bancroft  is  a  spacious 
dwelling.  Read  the  door  plate  —  "Daniel 
Pierpont."  Ah!  There  he  is  on  the  piazza. 
His  iron  gray  hair,  and  his  happy  sous  and 
daughters  about  him,  recall  us  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  lapse  of  yeans.  United  States 
Senator  he  is  now,  and  indeed,  has  been  for 
(several  terms. 

Emily,  matronly  and  winsome,  stands  be- 
side him  on  the  piazza.  Beside  him  she  has 
been  all  these  years,  filling  and  adorning  her 
station,  alike  in  Riverton  or  in  Washington. 

Daniel  Pierpont,  not  impatient  for  promo- 
tion, unselfish,  incorruptible,  serenely  beheld 
whole  generations  of  upstarts  dash  by  him 
into  momentary  notice  —  irridescent  bubbles. 
But  when  times  of  peril  called  for  a  man,  a 
statesman,  and  one  not  for  sale,  all  eyes  fas- 
tened on  Daniel  Pierpont,  and  his  promotion 
•came  like  the  dawn,  normal  and  resistless  as 
the  march  of  the  sun. 

But  here  we  are  before  Mr.  Goldwin's 
home.  How  the  hill  has  been  cut  away  in 
order  to  bring  the  street  to  uniform  grade. 
We'll  climb  the  steps  to  the  first  terrace. 
The  house  has  grown,  has  a  wing  now  on  the 
west  side.  One  was  planned  for  the  east 
side,  'but  as  Jack  Barnett  would  say,  "did 
not  realize;"  an  aborted  organ,  arrested 
growth.  A  kitchen  "lean  to"  has  developed 
until  now  it  carries  a  second  story. 

With  the  house  the  household  has  grown. 
The  'City  has  grown,  and  now  wears  the  toga 


THE   RIVERTON   MINISTER. 


351 


virillis  with  abundant  self-consciousness. 
The  canal,  the  Wabash  and  Erie,  no  longer  is 
—has  run  its  day.  Its  channel  through  the 
city  has  been  built  into  a  street.  Four  or 
five  railway  lines  now  hub  at  Riverton.  Bus- 
iness crept  up  town,  absorbed  the  old  church 
building,  and  sent  the  congregation  four 
blocks  away  into  a  symmetric  sanctuary  built 
of  stone. 

But,  now  we  have  regained  our  breath  and 
taken  our  bearings,  let  us  climb  to  the  sec- 
on>4  terrace  and  pull  the  door  bell  to  Mr. 
Goldwin's  home.  A  daughter  answers  it, 
the  youngest,  Lucille  by  name — Lux.,  they 
call  her.  You  would  know  her  by  the 
sparkle  in  her  eyes.  We  catch  glimpses,  too, 
of  half  a  dozen  'others,  nascent  editions — 
some  enlarged  editions — of  the  original  vol- 
ume. 

We  count  ourselves  peculiarly  fortunate, 
for  we  have  happened  on  a  family  reunion, 
and  they  are  all  at  home — five  sons  and  two 
daughters — 'perfect  number  of  Scripture. 
"The  boys,"  as  the  mother  <calls  them,  are 
called  men  on  election  day,  and  are  ordained 
ministers,  s'ave  one,  and  he  is  hard  on  the 
way.  Foreordained  ministers,  some  call 
them;  but  the  boys  themselves  stoutly  main- 
tain, that  they  are  examples  as  well  as  ex- 
ponents of  freedom  of  the  will.  Will  enough 
they  all  have,  the  mother  says.  Yesterday 
was  Sunday,  and  four  of  them  were  in  the 
pulpit  together.  People  remarked  that  the 


352  THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 

pulpit  was  "filled." 

This  hour  at  the  Goldwin  home,  however, 
is  no  Sunday  hour.  We  are  on  the  edge  of 
the  dark.  The  parlor  lamp  is  bright,  but 
the  eyes  are  brighter.  The  family  have 
drifted  into  the  parlor.  Father  and  mother 
.are  side  by  side  in  their  arm  chairs.  The 
light  reflects  from  their  faces  which  time  has 
chiseled  and  beautified,  but  recognition  is 
instant, — it  is  still  John  and  Margaret. 

This,  however,  is  the  "children's  hour." 
They  are  all  talking,  and  all  talking  at  once; 
and  the  venerable  moderator  of  assemblies 
in  vain  calls  to  order;  Margaret  laughs  and 
tells  him  this  is  an  interlocutory  session,  and 
the  parents  gracefully  subside,  and  unremon- 
strantly  enjoy. 

As  father  and  mother  were  laying  their 
heads  on  their  pillows  for  the  night,  Margaret 
whispered,  "New  broom  still?"  "Aye,  aye," 
said  John,  "always  new,"  and  he  drew  her 
to  his  lips. 

How  tenderly,  reverently,  everyone  speaks 
of  Father  Goldwin.  Dr.  Goldwin,  as  some 
address  him,  for  his  Alma  Mater,  years  ago, 
honored  herself  as  well  as  him  in  conferring 
the  doctorate  on  him.  Even  wicked  men 
eagerly  take  to  themselves  the  credit  of  rec- 
ognizing this  modern  'saint.  He  is  bowed 
with  his  years  and  physical  infirmities,  and 
has  resigned  the  work  in  Biverton  to  strong- 
er shoulders;  but  he  still  carries  the  gospel  to 
what  he  calls  his  country  parishes.  For 


THE  RIVEUTON   MJMSTKH. 


ten  years  or  more  after  resigning  Ms  pastor- 
ate in  Riverton,  he  continues  these  "out  ap- 
pointments" irrespective  of  .seasons  or 
weather.. 

Of  the  love  which  grew  between  the  peo- 
ple of  these  rural  churches  and  Father  Gold- 
win,  it  is  impossible  to  convey  adequate  idea 
in  words.  It  was  beautiful  and  wonderful; 
and  children's  children  in  that  vicinage,  to 
this  day  point  to  his  benign  face  looking 
down  upon  them  from  the  wall,  an$  renearse 
his  good  works  with  moistened  eye. 

They  tell  of  that  last  Saibbath, — commun- 
ion Sabbath — when  the  white  haired  saint, 
too  feeble  to  stand,  and  voice  weakened  to  a 
whisper,  is*at  in  his  chair,  while  they  all  gath- 
ered close  about  him,  breathless  to  catch 
every  word. 

After  this  last  public  ministration,  he  con- 
tinued to  go  about  his  home,  and  to  take  his 
accustomed  daily  walk,  and  with  keen  eye 
to  mark  the  daily  movement  of  events  in  the 
wide  world,  until,  one  morning  it  was  whis- 
pered on  the  streets,  "Father  Goldwin  is 
gone,"  and  Riventon  was  silent  a;nd  in  mourn- 
in  ig. 

"Now  there  was  leaning  on  Jesus'  bosom 
one  of  his  disciples  whom  Jesus  loved." 
These  fit  word's  prefaced  the  funeral  dis- 
course. 

Today  a  memorial  window  sheds  its  opal 
and  crimison  and  sapphire  ligiits  on  the  hal- 
lowed spot  where  this  "Riverton  minister  for 


354 


THE  RIVERTON  MINISTER. 


so  long  a  time  preached;  and  bears  in  illu- 
minated text  the  words: 

"REV.  JOHN  GOODWIN,  D.  D. 

He  walked  with  God,  and  he  was  not;  for 

God  took  him. "  . " 


